For sixty years, US forces in the Western Pacific region have been centered on the NorthEast Asia and the threat of North Korea.  The US military maintains a very large footprint in South Korea and Japan.  However, with the rise of China and the growing concerns over Chinese expansionism among their neighbors in the South China Sea region, the US is facing a need to re-orient its forces southward over the next decade.  Robert Haddick at the Council on Foreign Relations has a good introduction to the issues facing the US as it seeks to create a credible force without building permanent bases that would inflame the situation.  It is a delicate situation, as any increased US involvement is met with stern Chinese warnings.  The decision to upgrade Taiwan’s F-16 fleet (rather than selling them new planes, as they desired), was made to mollify the Chinese.  Future relations with regional forces in Vietnam and the Philippines will be as delicate, if not more so.

Many defense analysts believe that China’s middle term goal is to project power out to, if not beyond, what the Chinese call “the second island chain) in the Pacific Ocean.   Within that chain, China would be the dominant if not hegemonic power.

The Second Island Chain, it must be noted, includes the US territories of Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands.  I believe the US should extend statehood to these territories (as a single combined unit) in order to make clear to both current and prospective allies (as well as the Chinese themselves) that the US is and will remain a permanent fixture in the Western Pacific.