by Kevin Kerrigan
Guam - Palauan President Johnson Toribiong summed up his country's recent confrontation with China by saying "It is not the case of the mouse that roared at the lion. Its the case of an ant in the ear of a lion."
The incident pitted his small Pacific island nation against China over Palau's contention that a group of Chinese had illegally entered Palau's territorial waters to fish or, Toribiong suggested, perhaps to spy.
Toribiong spoke with PNC News Saturday as he was passing through Guam on his way back to Palau from Hawaii where he met with American military officials for routine, previously scheduled, annual military talks under Palau's Compact of Free Association with the U.S.
The confrontation with the Chinese fishermen came up during the Hawaii talks and the result said Toribiong has been to bring his island nation closer to the U.S.
Palau and the U.S. already enjoy close relations under the Compact which obligates the U.S. to provide for Palau's defense. But the events of the past few weeks prompted Toribiong to renew a prior invitation to the U.S. military to establish bases on the Southern Palauan islands of Peleliu and Angaur. Toribiong said that U.S. military authorities told him they are considering it.
"We are a small nation. We have no standing navy or army. We can't defend ourselves," said Toribiong. "That's why in the Compact of Free Association the most critical aspect is not economic assistance. Its the defense of Palau against external threats."
Read the full story at Pacific News Center