Wednesday, May 24, 2023

As U.S. Grows Guam Presence to Deter China, Wary Locals Are Denied A Choice

As U.S. Grows Guam Presence to Deter China, Wary Locals Are Denied A Choice


With tensions high between the U.S. and China, one small island in the Pacific stands

 as a nuclear-capable front line in what has the potential to be one of the devastating 

wars the world has ever seen.

As the U.S. military expands its already dominating presence, however, not everyone who calls

Guam home wants any part in such a conflict. And yet, the Indigenous people living on the 

shrinking two-thirds of the island not already consumed by U.S. military bases have little to no 

choice in the matter.

"There are many in the community who are critical of the role that Guam, as an unincorporated 

Territory, is forced to play in the posturing and aggression occurring between China and the 

United States," Melvin Won Pat-Borja, executive director of the Guam government's Commission 

on Decolonization, told Newsweek.

"As a Territory," he added, "Guam's relationship with the federal government, and 

thus the Department of Defense, is marked by consultation and not consent."


Guam has played a critical role in a number of U.S. wars, from Korea to Vietnam 

and even more recent conflicts in Afghanistan and the Middle East, during which 

U.S. bases on the island have helped to facilitate the movement of equipment and 

personnel.

But this U.S. military footprint has also put a target on the island's roughly 160,000 

residents, as directly evidenced in 2017 when North Korea began openly threatening

 Guam amid a war of words with the U.S.


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