Kilili, Radewagen co-chair task force created to combat rising China influence

Rep. Amata Radewagen (R-American Samoa), who co-chairs with Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) the newly formed Indo-Pacific Task Force, reads her statement during a press conference yesterday at the House Triangle in Washington, D.C. Also in the photo are Sablan, fourth from left, and members of the House Committee on Natural Resources. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources announced yesterday the formation of a bipartisan task force that will combat the rising influence of the People’s Republic of China in the U.S. territories and Freely Associated States in the Indo-Pacific region, with both Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) and Rep. Amata Radewagen (R-American Samoa) being named co-chairs of the task force.

Speaking at a press conference at the House Triangle in Washington, D.C., House Committee on Natural Resources chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) said this Indo-Pacific Task Force will begin regular meetings to conduct oversight on issues facing the U.S. territories and Freely Associated States and provide policy recommendations on actions the full committee can take to advance U.S. interest in the region and push back on the PRC influence throughout the Pacific.

“Our committee has jurisdiction over U.S. territories. I’ve learned so much from members representing these islands over the years,” Westerman said.

He said both Sablan and Radewagen are no strangers to Chinese aggression in their waters.

“There is perhaps no greater threat to America’s national security and future prosperity than the continued growth of the People’s Republic of China and its influence on the world stage,” said Westerman in a press statement.

He said the PRC has built a strategy to dominate the island nations and U.S. territories in the Pacific as a platform for the projection of its power.

“This strategy is a direct threat to our influence and economic interests in the region,” said Westerman, adding that creating this task force in an essential step in understanding all the issues at play so they can better curtail the Chinese government’s growing influence and strengthen and maintain America’s relationship with the Freely Associated States.

Freely Associated States refer to the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia. The three U.S. territories in the Pacific are the CNMI, Guam, and American Samoa.

Sablan thanked Westerman and House Committee on Natural Resources ranking member Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) for deciding to create this task force.

“We need to prepare ourselves,” Sablan said.

Grijalva thanked Sablan, Radewagen, and Westerman for their bipartisan efforts in leading this task force that, he said, seeks meaningful solutions that fulfill their obligations while continuing to build relationships with the Pacific territories and FAS.

Grijalva said the U.S. relationship with the U.S. territories and FAS in the Indo-Pacific region are critical to national security, especially as the U.S. faces mounting encroachment and aggression by the People’s Republic of China.

“But we cannot forget that the value of our relationship with these important allies comes with the responsibility to support their economic development,” Grijalva said.

Radewagen said she is honored to co-chair this task force with Sablan and that the task force has assembled an impressive spectrum of members of Congress, an equally balanced 14-member group, with perspective from their various committees, adding expertise to all sides of examining the influence of China in the Pacific.

“The Pacific Islands are my home. I live on the beautiful shoreline in American Samoa, and I spent years of my youth, both in American Samoa and in the U.S. Trust Territory—now the Freely Associated States, and studies in Hawaii and Guam. I know each of them well, and the rest of the Pacific Islands,” she said.

Radewagen said the Chinese Communist Party has decimated large swaths of the South China Sea and is ravaging the Pacific. She said China’s highly subsidized distant-water fishing fleet has been destroying fishing stocks through illegal fishing for too long.

“And we need to work with our Pacific Island partners to restore order on the high seas,” Radewagen said.

The other members of the task force are Reps. Jim Moylan (R-Guam), (Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Ed Case (D-Hawaii), Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Katie Porter (C-Calif.) Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), and Rob Wittman (R-Va.).