Micronesia: Activists push for Chuuk islands' independence

Muscat Daily

02-03-2025

Chuuk islands – The Chuuk islands – a seemingly idyllic spot in the Pacific Ocean, northeast of Indonesia and north of Australia and Papua New Guinea – is one of the four states making up the Federated States of Micronesia, an island nation strategically aligned with the US.
Despite Micronesia's small population, (around 113,000 in 2024) the island chain allows for control of vast swathes of the Pacific. And its alliance with the US runs deep – Washington provides millions of dollars in assistance every year to help with administration, education and health care as well as meeting other critical needs.
But former Chuuk State attorney general Sabino Asor fears Micronesia is too reliant on America.
'I believe our present leaders have developed a culture of dependence, but that gives the US the power to tell us what to do,' he told DW.
Who could step in to replace US?
Asor has spent decades campaigning for Chuuk islands to separate from Micronesia and become an independent state, though he admits that the population is still very much divided on the issue.
In recent weeks, however, the debate seems to be getting more serious. With the new US administration under President Donald Trump looking to cut costs at every opportunity, Washington appears unconcerned with its global alliances.
Asor thinks that it is only a matter of time before the US turns its attention to the islands of Micronesia. Then, the decades-long 'special relationship', based on the deal known as the Compact of Free Association, could be unceremoniously axed.
'Ideally, if we were independent from the rest of (Micronesia), then we could negotiate our own compact with the US, but we cannot be sure that the US would agree to that,' 66-year-old Asor said.
Yet he insists that Chuuk cannot continue as it is at present.
'An association with the broader global community would also appeal to us, perhaps to some of the nations that were colonial powers here, Spain, Germany or Japan, but it would have to be a concrete agreement that would benefit our people.'
The only other alternative, according to Asor, is an economic relationship with China, which is already ramping up its influence in other Pacific states such as the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Nauru.
The Chuuk islands were first settled by Melanesians, then claimed by the Spanish before being sold to the German empire in 1899. After Germany's defeat in World War I, the islands passed to the control of Japan, which transformed it into its most important naval base in the central Pacific.
The islands were the target of the US Operation Hailstorm in February 1944, in which at least 50 Japanese warships and cargo vessels were sunk. Today, those ships make Chuuk the most famous wreck diving site in the world, bringing in a large percentage of the state's tourism income.
After the war, Chuuk became a trust territory administered by the US under charter of the United Nations until the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) gained independence in 1979. The original Compact of Free Association with the US went into effect in November 1986 and has been renewed periodically ever since, most recently in 2023.
Lawyer and politician Johnny Meippen told DW that there were 'clear benefits of remaining with the FSM while that agreement is in place, but we have to be prepared'.
'When someone as erratic as Trump is in charge, the compact could be unilaterally cancelled with little or no warning,' he said.
And if Chuuk were to become a sovereign nation, that would allow its people to regain 'territorial jurisdiction over our surrounding waters and all the resources they contain', Meippen said.
For Asor, the issue of independence goes beyond strategic interests.
'The islands' history is of colonisation by other powers for many years, so we are obviously losing our own cultural identity,' he said. 'And it is good in some ways that we are clustered together with the other island states of the FSM, it is good to have friends, but we do not always share the same priorities.'
'We have a different emphasis when it comes to economic development and when we do receive money from the US under the compact, it always comes with strings attached,' he said.
'Much of our agriculture has already gone and we rely on imports of food for our people,' Asor added. 'Independence would be challenging, but it would give us freedom on many matters.'
Rumblings over Chuuk independence have been ongoing for many years, with the Chuuk Political Status Commission created in 2012 to examine the issue. Both Asor and Meippen have served on it. An independence referendum was initially set for March 2015, but the vote has been repeatedly delayed, with pro-independence campaigners saying the government was afraid that it would go in their favour.
Officials of the Chuuk state government were contacted for comment.
DW