Concerns have escalated over the infiltration of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) into Guam, a strategic U.S. military site.
A significant increase in Chinese nationals entering Guam from the Northern Mariana Islands has heightened the risk of CCP influence on the island, home to over 20,000 US troops. Guam serves as a crucial location for the Navy’s only submarine base in the western Pacific and an air base that houses bombers and fighter jets.
Reports from the island’s homeland security agency highlight 118 cases of “unlawful or attempted unlawful entries by Chinese citizens” since 2022.
“Count on the Chinese Communist Party to exploit every potential vulnerability on the map. What the CCP is doing in Guam is almost certainly no exception,” House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green said in a statement to The Daily Mail.
The surge in Chinese nationals entering Guam has become a “major cause for concern,” Green said, due to the ambiguity surrounding the intentions of these individuals. He criticized the Biden administration for creating a perception of weakness that the CCP could exploit, stressing the importance of addressing not only the issue at the Southwest border but also the situation in Guam.
Chinese migrants have been the fastest-growing group being smuggled from Mexico, with over 17,800 Chinese nationals released into the U.S. from January through September after crossing the southern border last year, according to Green.
Additionally, a policy enacted in 2019 by the Biden administration allows Chinese nationals visa-free access to the Northern Mariana Islands for 14 days. From there, many have reportedly traveled to Guam to gather intelligence on U.S. military installations.
This visa loophole has drawn criticism from senior Senate leaders, including Senator Joni Ernst, who emphasized the need to close these loopholes to protect U.S. military interests. Ernst, alongside Representative Neal Dunn, addressed a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, condemning the policy for its potential security risks, despite the administration’s claims of its economic benefits to the small island.
