The battle for influence in the Pacific is firmly in the sights of senior US officials as China grows its support for infrastructure in an increasing number of island nations.

Senior members of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in Washington DC claim runways, ports and other facilities backed by the People's Republic of China across several Pasifika states are often there for a "dual-use" for Beijing, and part of a broader strategic pattern to blend financial investment with long-term security objectives.

The second Trump administration made sizeable cuts to Pacific spending in 2025 - its first year of a four-year term - to the benefit of its rival in the region.

A United States congressional advisory commission now claims some infrastructure projects may be a front to provide future military access for Beijing.

"When you see the broader trend of militarisation of the region ... you see a lot of activities that suggest there are at least some security, and military-related interests involved," Commission chair Randall Schriver said in an exclusive interview with Fox News.

"Even if it's declared for civilian use... it is by its very character dual-use and could be used for military purposes."

Mr Schriver warned that Beijing's investments in the Pacific should not be viewed in isolation.

'Civilian infrastructure projects often have strings attached', US official claims

China has expanded due influence through not only infrastructure but also with security pacts and varying degrees of diplomatic moves in the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.

However, the facilities funded the Chinese government remain the sovereign domain of the Pacific governments involved - and could also be used in the future by American forces.

"We know that China is very ambitious," Mr Schiver claimed.

"We know that even civilian infrastructure projects often have strings attached.

"In many instances, those involve access for the Chinese military."

Mr Schiver, an influential figure in US government circles, was the Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs from December 2017 until December 2019 during Donald Trump's first presidency.

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission has previously argued Beijing often pairs infrastructure financing with greater economic leverage, growing China's influence in the Pacific.

The commission calls it "a cycle of debt diplomacy", with China loading the developing Indigenous Third-World up with debt, using its leverage to gain access to the runways and ports that they build.

US building up presence in Guam

Mr Schriver acknowledged Washington was slow to recognise the security implications of China's expansion in the region.

He also noted the timing of nearby Chinese projects coincide with major US military investments in Guam, an unincorporated US territory in the Micronesian sub-region of the Pacific.

"While this was happening, the Chinese were making inroads in the Pacific islands ... with great proximity to Guam," he said.

Guam, the southernmost Mariana island of the archipelago of the Indigenous Chamorro people, is the westernmost point territory of the US and its closest base to China that is central to key logistics and combat operations.

He said that some warning indicators suggested civilian infrastructure has likely shifted into operational military use.

Mr Schriver said the practice of undersea cable-cutting has been a "very provocative" act in what he described could be tied to Chinese military contingencies.

Visible deployments of China's military aircraft to Pacific facilities would mark a major escalation in a pattern previously cited in the South China Sea.

"We've seen a particular pattern that wouldn't surprise us at all to see in other parts of Oceania," Mr Schriver said.

The commission has proposed a broader response from Washington to include increasing the US Coast Guard cooperation and expand support for Pacific Island nations to strengthen their resilience against ongoing security threats and economic pressures.

Mr Schriver referenced a "Pacific Island Security Initiative" recommendation for the current Trump administration aimed at combining economic, law enforcement and defence engagement in the vast Indigenous region.