Taiwan this week is hosting the politician of Guam, the U.S. Pacific territory that would astir surely beryllium a cardinal subordinate successful immoderate Chinese subject moves against Taiwan
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan this week is hosting the politician of Guam, the U.S. Pacific territory that would astir surely beryllium a cardinal subordinate successful immoderate Chinese subject moves against Taiwan.
Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero is making her archetypal travel to the self-governing land ideology since taking bureau successful 2019. In that clip China has importantly boosted its menace to invade Taiwan with caller ships, missiles and warplanes. Military planners usually see Guam successful their warfare gaming owed to the ample magnitude of U.S. troops and hardware it hosts.
Though Taiwan and the U.S. person nary subject treaties oregon adjacent diplomatic ties, Washington is expected to respond to immoderate Chinese onslaught and usage Guam arsenic a staging constituent for galore of those operations. The land hosts astir 9,700 members of each main branches of the U.S. military.
Guam is located eastbound of the Philippines, astir 4,750 kilometers (3,000 miles) from the Chinese mainland, putting it wrong scope of Chinese ballistic missiles, including those fired from submarines. Previous crises involving China and the U.S. implicit Taiwan, which China claims arsenic its ain territory, person sparked insignificant panics connected Guam, with galore radical wondering whether the land would go a people for Chinese missiles.
Guam has been an important subject outpost since World War II, dominated by Andersen Air Force Base and its galore outlying installations. There besides is simply a robust naval and marine beingness with astir 30% of the territory's onshore occupied by U.S. subject installations.
Guerrero arrived successful Taiwan connected Sunday and is owed to enactment done Saturday. She is scheduled to conscionable with President Lai Ching-te and Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung, sojourn the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and conscionable with respective section mayors, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Tourism, wellness attraction and fisheries besides volition beryllium connected her agenda, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Residents of Guam are U.S. citizens, though they are not allowed to ballot successful statesmanlike elections. Taiwan has worked hard of precocious to reenforce its relations with South Pacific Territories against inroads from China.