Background to nation building

From a Saipan correspondent

Washington’s attitudes and tactics toward the Micronesian status questi°n have obviously changed since representatives of the Congress of Micronesia accepted an invitation from then Secretary of Interior Walter Hickel to meet with members of his staff to discuss the territory’s political future for the first time in September, *969.

But the impression of most ob-

servers concerning America’s “strategic trust” islands is that despite a more forthcoming approach, the basic strategy and principles remain the same.

During the first two rounds of negotiations in 1969, with a delega tion headed by Interior Under secretary Harrison Loesch, a man noted for his friendly hometown style, a proposal of “commonwealth” status was offered to Micronesia.

The arrangement, which would have given Washington virtual con trol over all Micronesia’s affairs, was labelled “a camouflaged offer of out right territorial status” by Micronesian status delegation Chairman Senator Lazarus Salii, and rejected by the congress as a whole, save the Mari anas Islands delegates. That district for years had been advocating closer ties with the United States and to close the deal they were prepared to offer miles of now-unused airstrips on Saipan and Tinian built by the Ameri can Air Force in 1944.

But both the United Nations and Washington said all six culturally diverse districts of Micronesia would have to be dealt with as a single

political entity as long as the trustee ship remained in force.

In an immediate move to ease strained Micronesian-US relations, the State Department dispatched a Pacific affairs expert from Canberra to Saipan, but no sooner had he arrived than did some Micronesian unity go up in smoke. The meeting chambers of the Congress of Micro nesia on Saipan were burnt to the ground by arsonists in February, 1971. That same week, the Mariana Islands District Legislature threatened to secede from the rest of the terri tory “by force of arms if necessary”, presumably to join nearby Guam, geographically and culturally part of the Marianas, but since 1898, an unincorporated US territory.

Political differences had polarized sharply now, and in an apparent grandstand play, Marianas delegates attempted to boycott a special session of the Micronesian Congress in Truk District three months after the mys terious fire. It was the first congress session ever held away from Saipan, and before the session ended, an “independence coalition” composed of one-third of the congress member ship was formed.

To relieve this potentially explosive situation, President Nixon personally took the task of dealing with the Micronesian dilemma out of the Interior Department’s hands and into more experienced ones. To give the situation an air of greater importance he appointed Ambassador Franklin Haydn Williams, former head of the partially Central Intelligence Agency financed Asia Foundation, and the Office of Micronesian Status Nego tiations was promptly established in Washington.

Shortly thereafter, more negotia tions were held and new initiatives were taken.

For the first time the US spelled out its military requirements in Micro nesia and accommodated, at least in principle, Micronesian demands for a “free association” status which would include full internal self government. However, full foreign affairs and defence authority would be delegated to the United States, including a security agreement guaranteeing specific land rights to the US in case Micronesia opted to uni laterally terminate the agreement.

But it must be noted that these “accommodations” by the United States did not come about until after a deal had been sealed by Ambassador Williams and Marianas leaders to conduct separate negotiations leading

to “full political union with the United States,” in the words of the Marianas proposal.

Senator Saui said later tL~t the arrangement was made without the consent of the congress or its status committee, although to date the con gress has not taken an official position on the matter.

The US and Micronesian delega tions met in Hawaii this August, tnis time to discuss the political future of the five remaining Micronesian districts, and drafted a partial draft compact which would have become the basis of the future relationship of “free association” between the two governments. But to the dismay of Salii and his committee, the con gress, at its just-ended special session in Ponape, did not approve the docu ment as they had requested.

Spelled out in the compact were American military access rights to all Micronesian waters, harbours and airports in the event of “emergencies”, and specific land requirements were outlined in the Marshalls and Palau (see PIM Sept., p. 127).

However, in a move that surprised no one at the congress, a delegation from the Palau District Legislature testified strongly against any military presence in that district.

The legislature had passed two resolutions during the past three years stating that no military of any nation would be welcome. Senator Salii, who has led the congress in the negotia tion since 1969, is himself a Palauan.

Either he wasn’t speaking for the rest of Palau or he saw the compact as the only way the US would let the islands go.

Aside from that, most objections to the partial draft compact centred around the fact that the document was admittedly incomplete. Senate President Amata Kabua of the Mar shalls said it was silly to ask for approval of US military rights when future financial arrangements, along with trade and commerce agreements, were yet to be worked out. And for a territory that lacks anything that resembles a healthy economy—last year imports rose 25 per cent, while exports fell 25 per cent. —the territory is clearly at the mercy of US hand outs.

More than half of the territory’s wage earners are government em ployees and American expenditures have jumped from $7 million to over $6O million in the last decade alone.

Not much has been said either in public or private about US grants to the future government of Micronesia, but last April the Micronesian dele gation proposed an annual handout of SUSIOO,OOO,OOO half of which would be earmarked for economic development projects.