This is CBS High on the World. I'm John Bashar. The Indo-Pacific, the contest with the

People's Republic of China over islands over a vast territory, Cleopascal, of the foundation

for the defense of democracy is here, my guide on the Indo-Pacific contest. We're headed

to the Solomon Islands, but we're going to take some time to get there because we begin

with the news. President Joe Biden told his counterpart, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., that the

US commitment to the defense of its ally was, quote, iron clad, including in the South

China Sea, where Manila is under pressure from China. Marcos, on the first White House

visit by a Philippine leader in 10 years, stressed the importance of the United States as

his country's sole treaty ally in a region with, quote, arguably the most complicated geopolitical

situation in the world right now, which is why I need Cleo. Complicated is an understatement.

Cleo, the last time we talked to look at the Indo-Pacific, you were in Palau, which is,

as you instruct me, always to look at the map on the way to the Philippines. The Philippines

are now part of the integrated defense of the region constructed by the US and its allies.

Recently, the Secretary of Defense was in the Philippines to assure a contract where

Luzon and Palau on Island will have military bases again. However, you in Palau pointed

me to another critical development in the Indo-Pacific defending against China's aggression.

That is the compact of free associations. What is that, Cleo? And what is its status now

that the Philippines is on board? Good evening. So the compacts of free association

are three agreements made with three independent countries. Palau, Micronesia, and Merchal

Islands combined. They cover about as much of the central Pacific as the continental United

States. They cover a vast, vast area between Hawaii and the Philippines. They are independent

countries. They have small populations, but they cover this large area of ocean. And when

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