Photo: AFP
China is knocking in the north Pacific as the United States moves at a snail's pace to pass a major strategic agreement.
The Compacts of Free Association gives the US military access to the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau, in return the countries are given financial assistance and the right to work in the US.
The previous 20-year funding arrangement expired on September 30 last year and although the new compacts have been agreed on they haven't yet passed Congress putting the Freely Associated States in financial strife.
RNZ Pacific's Caleb Fotheringham has more.
