Micronesia in the news, or How useful it is to be useless!

[randy_byers]

So Palau (widely called Belau in Micronesia) has agreed to take the 17 Uighurs from Gitmo in exchange for $200 million. The part of the story that is striking to me is that apparently nobody else has been willing to take the Uighurs, because the PRC wants them back and has been pressuring other countries not to take them. Why was Palau willing to buck the PRC? Because they don't recognize the PRC. Palau recognizes Taiwan instead. Why? Because Taiwan has invested money in Palau (and elsewhere in Micronesia, including Yap to some extent).

This is like the other shoe dropping to me, because my brother and I have often wondered why Taiwan paid so much attention (and so much money) to Micronesia. The answer would seem to be because Taiwan needs allies wherever it can find them, and the Micronesian nations are unimportant enough that the PRC has ignored them up till now. And so Palau is able to solve one of Obama's big Gitmo headaches. Never saw that coming!

Just as a side note, Japan invests in Micronesia too, but they have a historical colonial relationship with the islands that seems to account for it. Well, that and it's a source of high-grade tuna.

Comments

"China Protests Moving of Detainees"

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

An article in the New York Times today has more information about the legal wrangling that has led to this solution. It also talks about four Uighurs who have been resettled in Bermuda. Of note, considering your question, is the following: 'The detainees “will have the opportunity to become naturalized citizens,” [Bermuda's president] said, “and thereafter afforded the right to travel and leave Bermuda, potentially settling elsewhere.' However, it's more complicated than that, and you'd have to read the whole story to see why and how.