China's 'friendship' in the Pacific draws thanks and suspicions

The road that runs from Kolonia's crumbling port into the jungle interior of the Pacific island Pohnpei is lined by single-storey shacks with corrugated iron roofs, a cinder-block supermarket and stores selling a paltry selection of CDs, cold drinks and the colourful dresses the local women favour.

Side by side with the ramshackle buildings that make up the largest town on the island, two modern structures of glass and steel stand out.

The administrative building of the Pohnpei State Government and the expansive headquarters of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission were built with funds provided by China.

Since Beijing established diplomatic relations with the Federated States of Micronesia, of which Pohnpei is a part, in 1989 it has provided more than US$80 million for construction and economic and technical co-operation.

And while that may not be a huge amount in global terms, it is for these islands, which had a GDP of just US$238 million in 2008, according to the CIA World Factbook. And the influence that is being sought in tandem with the aid is causing concern.

That concern is heightened as Beijing flexes its geo-political muscles in the Western Pacific and backs up its diplomatic claims to vast areas of the South China Sea and the Japanese-held Senkaku archipelago with a growing military presence.

Part-way between Guam and Hawaii, Beijing is not laying claim to sovereignty over Pohnpei but is aiming to win new friends in the government.