The foreign minister of the Marshall Islands called on Thursday for more U.S. money to deal with the legacy of massive U.S. nuclear testing to enable the renewal of a strategic agreement governing bilateral relations.
Marshall Islanders are still plagued by health and environmental effects of 67 U.S. nuclear bomb tests from 1946 to 1958, which included "Castle Bravo" at Bikini Atoll in 1954 - the largest U.S. bomb ever detonated.
"There are other issues that needed to included, and especially, additional funding for the nuclear-affected populations," he told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, appealing to Congress to direct the Biden Administration to continue negotiating. Renewing the deals, which is subject to congressional approval, has become a key part of U.S. efforts to push back against China's bid to expand its regional influence.
"I have told my Marshallese colleagues, listen, there is no more money," Yun said, adding that the MOU figure was over double that in the last agreement.
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