U.S. revives Pacific Island talks

• The U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday appointed former special envoy for North Korea Joseph Yun to lead the renewal negotiation of the Compacts of Free Association (COFA) with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau.

• The U.S. approved COFA in 1986 to provide security and financial support for the three countries, which are together known as Freely Associated States (FAS). The U.S. administration hasn’t engaged substantially in the talks since the end of 2020.

High-level dialogue on CMAR

• The U.S. Under Secretary Jose W. Fernandez attended a high-level dialogue (remarks) on the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR) with officials from Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama yesterday.

• The environment protection cooperation mechanism was created in 2004 by environmental authorities of the four Latin American countries, the presidents of which signed a declaration in 2021 to upgrade the initiative. The U.S. has been actively supporting CMAR since 2021.

• The CMAR talks were held as major Latin American countries — Mexico, Argentina, and Chile — elected left-leaning leaders in recent years, reflecting a tendency of distancing from the U.S.

Nuland asks India to stand against China

• During her trip to Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka ending today, the U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told India to stand against “autocracies like Russia and China,” saying these countries intend to “break the rules of the international system that has favored India.” The remarks came soon after President Biden said India was the only Quad country "somewhat shaky" in its stance on the Ukraine war.

China urges U.S. to protect minorities

• At the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday, Jiang Duan, minister of the Chinese mission to the UN in Geneva, issued deep concerns on “some countries’ serious human rights violations against Indigenous people” without naming the U.S. The U.S. on Monday imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials implementing ethnic and religious policies.