The Pacific region has been caught in the escalating geostrategic competition between the United States (US) and China in the broad Indo-Pacific region. This paper will focus on the freely associated states of the US in the Pacific, including the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Marshall Islands, and Palau. To counterbalance China’s influence, the US has ramped up its presence in the region, especially in these freely associated states. This paper analyzes these small countries as both object and subject of the US-China geostrategic competition. It argues that the US still enjoys a prominent strategic advantage over China in these countries. It also demonstrates the agency of these freely associated states in affecting the US-China competition.