There is growing concern that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is infiltrating the sensitive US military site in Guam, where more than 20,000 troops are stationed.
A growing number of Chinese nationals have been sneaking into Guam from the Northern Mariana Islands, making the US territory susceptible to CCP influence.
Guam is the location of the Navy’s only submarine base in the Western Pacific. It is also home to a “strategically important” air base with bombers and fighter jets.
The island’s national security agency has reported 118 “illegal entries or attempted illegal entries by Chinese nationals” since 2022.
The number peaked at 85 in 2022, followed by 27 in 2023 and six so far in 2024, according to Stars and Stripes.
‘Count on the Chinese Communist Party to exploit every potential vulnerability on the map. What the CCP is doing on Guam is almost certainly no exception,” House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., told DailyMail.com.
Sailors prepare to enter a building for a hand-to-hand combat training exercise at Naval Base Guam.
Andersen Air Force Base in Guam
A military ship docks at the Kilo Pier of the Guam Naval Base in Sumay
“The United States maintains a significant military presence on the island, a vital outpost to help the United States defend our strategic interests in the region.”
He added that the “increasing number of Chinese nationals entering Guam” should be “a major cause for concern, in part because we simply do not know for what purpose these individuals are coming.”
Green blames the Biden administration for allowing the CPP to “feel weakness” and then “take advantage” of the situation.
“It’s not just the growing number of Chinese nationals illegally crossing our southwest border that demands attention; what’s happening in Guam requires it, too.”
Chinese immigrants using the border to enter are the fastest growing group smuggled in from Mexico.
Last year, Green told DailyMail.com that more than 17,800 Chinese nationals had been released into the United States between January and September after crossing the southern border.
In addition to illegal immigrants arriving on the island, DailyMail.com previously reported on the ‘loophole’ that allows Chinese nationals to spy on US military installations on Guam.
In 2019, the Biden administration enacted a policy to allow Chinese citizens to visit the Northern Mariana Islands for 14 days without a visa.
From there, many have been reported to charter ships to Guam to obtain information on sensitive US military sites.
Guam Customs and Quarantine spokesperson Alana Chargualaf-Afaisen told Newsweek that the agency stops “illegal arrivals” into the territory.
Migrants often “avoid harm in a variety of areas, including intelligence and military reconnaissance, terrorism, communicable diseases, human trafficking for slave labor, prostitution and illegal gambling, cheap and undocumented labor, the movement of illicit drugs and other illegal activities that pose a threat to the quality of life on Guam, are equally concerning for our island,” the statement told Newsweek.
The current visa loophole is also of great concern to senior Senate leaders.
An aerial view of the US Naval Base Guam, which is located in a strategic position for the US military.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., told DailyMail.com there has been a “massive increase” in Chinese nationals linked to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) gaining access to United States crossing the border.
In 2019, the Biden administration enacted a policy to allow Chinese citizens to visit the Northern Mariana Islands for 14 days without a visa.
US Army soldiers at Nimitz Training Area, Guam
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, previously told DailyMail.com that the visa loophole allows spies to “take a hard look” at what the United States is doing militarily in Guam and then “use it against us.”
‘We are trying to close those loopholes. I just think it’s very, very important that we do this,” said Ernst, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Ernst and Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas sharply criticized the policy, which the administration said provides a major economic boost for the small island.