{"id":405157,"date":"2024-02-20T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=405157"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"US-will-resume-Peace-Corps-program-in-Palau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/US-will-resume-Peace-Corps-program-in-Palau\/","title":{"rendered":"US will resume Peace Corps program in Palau"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP)\u2014<\/strong>The United States will resume a long-suspended Peace Corps program in the North Pacific island of Palau as the Biden administration continues moves to counter growing Chinese influence in the region.<\/p>\n

The Peace Corps said Friday that it would start sending volunteers back to the island in 2025 following an agreement reached between the agency\u2019s director and Palau\u2019s president, whose country is one of the few in the world to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.<\/p>\n

\u201cVolunteers will live and work side-by-side with community partners to improve childhood literacy and math and science skills, along with teaching English as a foreign language,\u201d Peace Corps director Carol Spahn said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Palau\u2019s president, Surangel Whipps, said the return of the Peace Corps reflects the strong relationship between his nation and the United States. He said prior Peace Corps members had become \u201can integral part of our national family,\u201d and he extended his gratitude to them and to a program he said \u201chas enriched our country in countless ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo those Peace Corps members preparing to come and contribute to Palau,\u201d Whipps said, \u201cwelcome home.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Peace Corps programs in Palau and in the Federated States of Micronesia began in 1966 but were shut down in 2014 after more than 4,400 volunteers had served there.<\/p>\n

Since then, as China has made successful inroads in the Pacific, successive U.S. administrations have sought to improve relations with the island nations, including by opening or reopening several embassies and renegotiating cooperation agreements known as compacts of free association last year with Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.<\/p>\n

Palau is among the 12 countries that still recognize Taiwan\u2019s statehood and do not have diplomatic relations with Beijing, which considers Taiwan to be part of Chinese territory. The U.S. has encouraged these countries to maintain formal ties with the self-governed island.<\/p>\n

Peace Corps officials said they hope that with congressional funding the Palau reopening will be the first of several new programs it will restart in the Pacific.<\/p>\n

The Peace Corps, a creation of the John F. Kennedy administration, currently has Pacific island programs in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This June 20, 2009, file photo shows the Palau Capital building,in Melekeok, Palau. The United States will resume a long-suspended Peace Corps program in the North Pacific island of Palau as the Biden administration continues moves to counter growing Chinese influence in the region.<\/p>\n

-AP
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