This week, Taiwan is hosting the governor of Guam. The U.S. Pacific territory would almost certainly be a key player in any Chinese military moves against Taiwan.
Lourdes Leon Guerrero is making her first trip to Taiwan since taking office in 2019. In that time, China has boosted its threat to invade Taiwan with new ships, missiles and warplanes.
Guerrero arrived in the island democracy on Sunday and is scheduled to stay through Saturday.
Although Taiwan and the U.S. have no military treaties or diplomatic ties, Washington is expected to respond to any Chinese attack and use Guam as a base for many of those operations. Guam hosts nearly 10,000 U.S. military personnel, representing all main branches of the armed forces.
Guam is located east of the Philippines, about 3,000 miles from the Chinese mainland. The territory is in range of Chinese ballistic missiles, including those fired from submarines.
Guam has been an important military outpost since World War II, dominated by Andersen Air Force Base. Residents of Guam are U.S. citizens, but they are not allowed to vote in presidential elections.
Taiwan has been continuing to strengthen its relations with Pacific territories against threats of a potential invasion or other military actions by China.
