By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
The Northern Mariana Islands is looking to capitalize on its strategic role in the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific strategy to salvage its troubled economy, according to Gov. Arnold Palacios.
“We missed the boat,” the governor said, acknowledging that while the U.S. Department of Defense has begun beefing up its capacity in the territory, the commonwealth government has yet to leverage its asset as a strategic site to keep any potential aggressor at bay.
“Eight years ago, we should have been planning this,” Palacios said. “We should have been looking ahead and seeing what the situation was going to be.”
In an unclassified report released in July 2023, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command identified the CNMI— along with Guam— as the “most forward U.S. territories in the Pacific” that “are critical to U.S. defense and power projection across the region” amid the growing geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China.
CNMI’s neighboring sister territory, Guam, has been negotiating deals with the Joint Region Marianas. Meanwhile, the CNMI has a lot of catching up to do.
The defense department is currently constructing a divert on Tinian, which has been designated as an alternate site in the event that Anderson Air Force Base on Guam is rendered inoperable due to any attack.
The Commonwealth Port Authority said the defense department has invested $161.8 million to build the first phase of the project, which is expected to be completed in October 2025.
“The new National Defense Authorization Appropriations Act has a substantial amount of funding for the Indo-Pacific Command,” Palacios said.
In its 2025 budget request, the U.S. Air Force is proposing $409 million to complete the Tinian airfield project.
A sleepy island with a population of 3,500, Tinian does not have adequate infrastructure to meet the needs of an increased population resulting from the eventual deployment of Air Force personnel, Palacios said.
Tinian played a major role during WWII; it was the base for the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan.
The U.S. is leasing two-thirds of the land on Tinian, but only private contractors are currently on the construction site.
“I've talked to some of the top military brass about this situation and they're very accommodating,” Palacios said. “They're very sympathetic and promised to figure out how they can help the commonwealth, whether it’s helping with our power plants, ports and seaports. Those basic infrastructures have to be in place to service any military activities as well.”
While currently focused on Tinian, the defense department is exploring the expansion of its footprint in the Northern Marianas. “They're looking into providing more opportunities for the commonwealth that have a nexus with (defense) activities and or even assisting this community,” Palacios said.
Last month, the governor met with Adm. Greg Huffman, commander of the
Joint Task Force Micronesia; Adm. Brent DeVore, commander of the Joint
Region Marianas; and Brig. Gen. Christopher K. Faurot, commander of
Guam Air National Guard for an executive briefing. “Among the items discussed included the military training outlook, updates on the Tinian divert airfield, port development activities, the updated environmental impact statement on Tinian, contracting opportunities for CNMI businesses, and other topics,” according to a press release from the governor’s office.
“They're looking at other areas, including Saipan and Rota, but perhaps, it's not necessarily going to be as huge as, say, (Marine Corp Base Camp Blas) and Anderson Air Force Base on Guam. All these other opportunities and other installations are in the planning stages.”
Palacios said the CNMI will explore different opportunities through the Department of Defense’s investments under the bipartisan infrastructure law. “I don't want to get ahead of myself right now. We have to give DOD that opportunity to roll it out,” he said. “They haven't really shared the details of their plans.”
The CNMI’s economy, which is currently dependent on the volatile tourism industry, has been slow to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are a small community tourism, and it’s competitive out there,” Palacios said, naming Asian destinations such as Vietnam, Japan and Korea among tough market competitors.
“Then, of course, we're a U.S. territory. We don't have the flexibilities that other destinations have,” the governor said.
Compounding the situation is the China factor. Palacios, whose pivot-away-from-China policy doesn’t sit well with the private sector, has been at odds with local business leaders, who have warned of the CNMI’s economic collapse if this market is not revived. “I think everybody needs to be honest. They're basically formulating this narrative because of (their push) for the China market,” Palacios said.
The Commonwealth Ports Authority last year wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg seeking the reinstatement of Annex VI of the U.S.-China bilateral agreement, which would exempt the CNMI from flight frequency limitations between the U.S. and China. The business sector has been trying to drum up the administration’s support for this bid.
“What do they want me to do? Write to Buttigieg? We always ask for exemptions. Is that the solution for everything?” Palacios said. “If I’m assured that Mr. Buttigieg would approve this, then I would do it.”
However, the governor reminded the business community that its request to lift the federal cap on China flights would not be handed to the CNMI on a silver platter. Palacios said it may be a long shot given the growing geopolitical tensions and a raging rivalry between the U.S. and China.
“We know that kind of request is going to be vetted not just by the U.S. Department of Transportation or the Federal Aviation Authority, but also by the State Department and the Department of Defense,” he said. “I will not write or sign that letter until I get the opportunity to sit down directly across the table with the FAA, the Department of Transportation, or even the State Department.”
Even without the flight cap exemptions, Palacios noted that Chinese travelers from Hong Kong are still coming to the CNMI visa-free via Hong Kong Airlines.
“I’ve never asked the federal government to take that away,” he said. "We still welcome them, but there's a federal restriction on how many direct flights each country can have. Right now, it's at 50. If we're going to continue to ask for an exemption from the federal policy, we really have no idea what the parameters would be."
The irony is that the new federal rule on Chinese travelers, supported by the business sector, turned out to have the opposite effect on the market. The CNMI Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program, which goes into effect in October, will apply only to travelers flying directly from China and not from Hong Kong. There is currently no direct flight service between China and the CNMI.
“Everybody was on board with this policy and I got vilified and demonized for not supporting it,” Palacios said. “And if the U.S. government, or China for that matter, decides to pull that, we don't have any control over that.”
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