A Map Of US Military Presence Near China

According to recent media reports, the Republic of Palau has invited the US to build joint use facilities (ie. bases, ports, and airfields) on its island located strategically in close proximity to the Philppines, Indonesia, Malaysia and, of course, China. This, as Bank of America rhetorically points out, “would improve US access in the Pacific.”

The offer was reportedly made during Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s trip to the island nation in early September. The Republic of Palau is made up of 340 islands (180 sq mi) and located in the western Pacific Ocean.

Whether the US takes up Palau on its offer remains to be seen, but in the meantime, here courtesy of BofA is a map of US military bases and presence in the Pacific Ocean and, specifically, in proximity to China. One wonders how US citizens would feel if China had over a dozen military touch points in close proximity to the continental US.