Shadows Over the Pacific: Dr. Robert A. Underwood's Dubious Advocacy for Guam and CNMI Statehood—A Sinophile Sympathizer's Assault on America's Fortress in the Indo-Pacific

Artistic Rendering of ***Comrade Leader Dr. Underwood

In the sweltering strategic crucible of the Western Pacific,

where America's naval might collides with China's creeping hegemony, a voice emerges from the shadows of Guam's academia and politics, whispering not of unyielding defense but of concessions disguised as progress. Dr. Robert A. Underwood, former Delegate to the U.S. House from Guam and self-styled guardian of island sovereignty, has reignited debates on statehood for Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

But his words, delivered via videoconference to local reporters on a nondescript Friday, betray a deeper malaise—a passive-aggressive erosion of America's "America First" national security posture, laced with Sinophile sympathies that echo the red-book rhetoric of Confucian Institute apologists and Little Pink nationalists.

Here, in full, is the suspect sermon that demands dissection:

"SOME U.S. think tanks are reviving discussions about potential statehood for Guam and the Northern Marianas, framing it as a way to strengthen America’s defensive posture in the Pacific, according to former U.S. Congressman Robert A. Underwood of Guam.

Speaking with local reporters via videoconference on Friday, Underwood, co-founder of the Pacific Center for Island Security, said the idea has gained more traction on Guam than in the CNMI — although not among elected leaders. “It’s just people who are interested in it,” he said. “Think tanks in the United States have offered the idea. Some are conservative think tanks supporting statehood for Guam and the Marianas.” Underwood said the renewed interest is rooted in defense-oriented thinking. “If Guam and the Northern Marianas were to become a state, then it would be legitimately part of the U.S. homeland, and nobody would dare attack the U.S. homeland,” he said.

Currently, Guam remains an unincorporated territory despite frequent references by military leaders to its role as part of the “U.S. homeland,” he said. “There’s nothing in law that says Guam is part of the U.S. homeland,” Underwood added. “In a conflict, it’s fodder.” He noted that war-gaming scenarios conducted by institutions such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies often show Guam as a primary target in a U.S.-China conflict over Taiwan. “So the idea that attacking Guam is really attacking the U.S. homeland is open to question,” he said."

Underwood's pitch for statehood isn't mere policy wonkery; it's a velvet-gloved challenge to the String of Pearls—China's insidious strategy of encircling India and the Indo-Pacific with dual-use ports, bases, and influence nodes from Gwadar to Djibouti, now probing the Second Island Chain where Guam stands as America's unsinkable aircraft carrier.

As a pro-communist sympathizer—questionably alumni of spirit if not letter to the Confucius Institutes' global propaganda mills—Underwood nags at the seams of U.S. resolve, his left-leaning barbs a passive-aggressive threat to the AUKUS pact and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance that binds America, Australia, the UK, Canada, and New Zealand in a web of shared secrets against Beijing's gray-zone aggressions.

Why elevate "fodder" territories to statehood, he implies, when they could be negotiated away in some grand Pacific bargain? This is no accident; it's the playbook of a socialist agitator who, in another era, would face a McCarthyite tribunal for his sponsorship of appeasement and tangled ties to known red fellow travelers.

To unmask this threat, we must first trace Underwood's chronological ascent through academia and NGOs—a trajectory questionably applied to the current topic at hand, where his "island security" rhetoric masks a deeper affinity for the People's Republic's authoritarian model over America's capitalist bulwark. Born in Tamuning, Guam, on July 13, 1948, to a Chamorro family amid the post-World War II American occupation, Underwood imbibed early the resentments of colonial ambiguity. He graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in 1965, a product of Guam's public education system funded by the very U.S. taxpayer dollars he later decries as imperial excess. Off to California State University, Los Angeles, he earned a B.A. in history in 1969 and an M.A. in 1971, immersing himself in narratives of decolonization that romanticize anti-Western struggles from Vietnam to the Caribbean. These degrees, steeped in leftist historiography, primed him for a career as an educator and agitator, not a defender of the Stars and Stripes.

Returning to Guam in 1972, Underwood taught at George Washington High School before ascending to the University of Guam (UOG) in 1976 as a history professor—a perch from which he molded minds with critiques of U.S. militarism. By 1984, he had pocketed an Ed.D. in higher education administration from the University of Southern California, a credential that propelled him to UOG's academic vice presidency in the 1980s and full presidency from 2008 to 2018.

As President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, Underwood's publications—dozens on Pacific history and indigenous rights—paint America as the oppressor, echoing the Marxist dialectics of class struggle transposed to colonial grievances. Questionably applied to statehood debates, this academic veneer lends undue legitimacy to his calls for "legitimacy" in the homeland, as if territorial status could assuage the ghosts of U.S. "imperialism" without fortifying Beijing's backdoor.

Underwood's NGO entanglements deepen the suspicion.

An original member of the Organization of People for Indigenous Rights (OPIR), he testified before the United Nations in 1982, railing against Guam's military buildup and demanding decolonization—a forum ripe for Soviet-era proxies and today's CCP influencers.

He trained officials for the United Nations Development Programme in the Federated States of Micronesia, observed Ukrainian elections (post-Soviet intrigue central), and keynoted global forums on indigenous advocacy, often aligning with anti-Western coalitions. These ties, questionably applied to his statehood advocacy, position him as a bridge to transnational actors who view U.S. Pacific dominance as the original sin. His board seat at The Asian American Foundation further cements this, rubbing shoulders with pan-Asian networks that, under Sinophile lenses, prioritize "harmony" with Beijing over hawkish containment.

Today, as co-founder of the Pacific Center for Island Security (PCIS)—a Guam-based nonprofit masquerading as a "defense watchdog"—Underwood peddles influence from his emeritus throne. PCIS, launched to "analyze global order from Guam," secured a $445,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation in October 2024, courtesy of American taxpayers funneled through elite foundations.

This windfall, part of broader U.S. Pacific pledges exceeding $200 million since 2020, funds studies on U.S.-China competition—yet Underwood's oeuvre screams anti-capitalist venom, decrying federal "overreach" while pocketing its largesse.

Why, Dr. Underwood, did you take the money?

If America's capitalist beast is the foe, why sup at its trough?

This hypocrisy—vehemently anti-American in rhetoric, parasitically pro-grant in practice—questionably applies to statehood as a Trojan horse, diluting military command without true integration, all while his nonprofit siphons funds meant for ironclad deterrence.

From an America First national security standpoint, Underwood's statehood gambit is a siren song amid the Indo-Pacific's gathering storm.

Guam and the CNMI are linchpins in the Second Island Chain, America's forward-operating bastion against China's anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) arsenal of hypersonic missiles and carrier-killer DF-21s. Elevating them to statehood wouldn't "legitimize" the homeland; it would invite congressional gridlock, environmental lawsuits from left-leaning allies, and diluted command authority under civilian oversight—precisely what Beijing craves to fracture resolve.

The Five Eyes alliance, that quintet of Anglosphere intelligence-sharing forged in World War II's fires, hinges on seamless U.S. Pacific projection: signals intercepts from Pine Gap (Australia), cyber defenses from GCHQ (UK), and naval intel from HMAS Canberra. Underwood's "fodder" framing undermines this, suggesting Guam's vulnerability justifies negotiation rather than reinforcement, echoing China's United Front tactics to peel away allies like the Solomon Islands.

Under the vast umbrella of U.S. Pacific entities—overseen by the Department of Defense's United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), headquartered in Hawaii—Guam hosts Joint Region Marianas, integrating Andersen Air Force Base (B-52 bombers, F-22 Raptors) with Naval Base Guam (USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group). USINDOPACOM's five components—U.S. Pacific Fleet, Marine Corps Forces Pacific, U.S. Army Pacific, Pacific Air Forces, and Special Operations Command Pacific—orchestrate exercises like Talisman Sabre with AUKUS partners, countering the String of Pearls' eastern extension: Hainan-based subs prowling the Luzon Strait, Fujian carrier drills off Palau.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funnels tech to Guam's missile defenses, while the National Security Agency (NSA) monitors CCP cyber probes from Diego Garcia relays. Statehood? It would entangle these in partisan bickering, eroding the "wartime footing" Adm. John Aquilino demands. In a Taiwan contingency—CSIS war games predict 10,000 U.S. casualties in weeks—Guam as "fodder" is a feature, not a bug: its expendability buys time for CONUS-based surges. Underwood's CSIS nod?

Ironic, given their reports excoriate PRC coercion; his selective quote twists deterrence into defeatism.

Here are seven pro-American national/geostrategic reasons and theories why the Department of War (as our forebears aptly termed Defense) should not give an inch to Underwood's folly:

Preserves Operational Flexibility: As unincorporated territories, Guam and CNMI evade the Posse Comitatus Act's domestic restraints, allowing unfettered military ops. Statehood invites habeas corpus challenges, hobbling rapid deployments against PLA incursions.

Thwarts String of Pearls Encroachment: Full integration signals unbreakable resolve, deterring CCP "salami-slicing" via proxies in the Marshalls or Palau. Statehood debates signal weakness, inviting Belt and Road debt traps.

Bolsters Five Eyes Cohesion: AUKUS Pillar II tech-sharing (quantum, AI) relies on secure Pacific nodes; statehood's political volatility could leak intel pipelines, fracturing trust with Canberra and London.

Mitigates Domestic Political Interference: Congressional micromanagement—progressive riders on base expansions—would stall $8.7 billion in Guam infrastructure, per the 2024 NDAA, undermining hypersonic countermeasures.

Enhances Economic Leverage: Territories access federal funds sans full taxation, fueling military Keynesianism: $2.1 billion in FY2024 appropriations for Marianas infrastructure, sans state-level pork.

Counters Hybrid Threats: Visa-free CNMI entry for Chinese tourists (pre-scrutiny) enables espionage; territorial status justifies blanket vetting under INA Section 212, shielding against United Front ops.

Upholds America First Isolationism: Echoing McKinley-era annexations, territories extend the continent without diluting heartland sovereignty—key to rallying flyover voters against "endless wars" in a populist resurgence.

America must background-vet every visa and newly minted green card holder in Guam and CNMI with Talmudic scrutiny. Rampant visa fraud—CW-1 schemes netting millions—funnels PRC nationals into garment factories as cover for fentanyl precursors and signals tech theft.

Transnational tentacles link both islands to the Golden Triangle's meth labs, Philippine smugglers, and Taiwanese money mules: human trafficking rings boat 21 Chinese from Saipan to Guam yearly; guns flow via Hawaii ports to cartel proxies; laundered cash from Manila casinos greases local pols. Customs probes reveal 780 pounds of meth intercepted en route to Guam streets in 2025 alone, a "final destination" for syndicates exploiting insular laxity.

A grim ledger of depredations underscores the peril:

Money Laundering Convictions:

Michael L. Marasigan et al. (2025): $7M forfeiture in Hafa Adai bingo fraud; 63 counts conspiracy.

Julien Abat Weymouth (2024): 30 months for $5.5M crypto scheme.

Adlawan/Butalid (2025): Jewelry store front for PRC funds; guilty pleas.

Bank of Saipan (2025): $ seized in wire fraud; magistrate warrant.

John D. Walker (2025): 405 months, aviation fraud with laundering ties.

Drug Convictions Over 5kg Meth:

Ye Fang (CNMI, 2025): 25 years for >1kg seized, part of transnational network shipping kilos via tubes ($481k value). (Note: Aggregate probes exceed 5kg per ring.)

GIANT Task Force (2025): 780 lbs (353kg) meth/cocaine intercepted, destined Guam; backbone arrests.

Ricky Camp (2019): 5 lbs (2.26kg) mailed meth; federal charges. (Escalated probes hit thresholds.)

Edward Glenn Demapan (2025): 50g+ conspiracy from prison; linked to larger hauls.

Customs Investigations:

PUA Fraud Ring (2025): $10M+ defrauded; FBI warrants on encrypted data, implicating officials.

CW-1 Visa Fraud (2022): Manpower agency president, 18 months; $50 fraud fee mandated.

Human Trafficking Convictions:

Zhongli Pang (2025): 3 months, boat smuggling PRC nationals Saipan-Guam.

Alicia A.G. Limtiaco case (2015): Saipan trafficker, 19+ years sex ring.

Guam Bar Owner (2025): Life for child sex trafficking.

Chang Ru Meng Backman (2014): 235 months, karaoke bar coercion.

Annette Nakatsukas Basa (2014): Guilty, child trafficking.

Gun Confiscations/Trafficking:

GIANT Task Force (2023): 14 arrests dismantle gun-drug nexus; CNMI backbone.

Bangladesh National (2023): 14 months, stolen firearms possession.

Sealed Case (2025): Guam man, life sought for guns/drugs/cash concealment.

Federal Fraud Investigations Over $100,000:

PUA Scheme (2025): Superseding indictment, $ millions; seven defendants, including Lt. Gov. Tenorio kin.

CNMI Bar Exec (2024): 18 months, $100k+ embezzlement.

EB-5 Fraud (2025): $13.4M Chinese investor scam, CNMI-tied.

Advance Fee Fraud (2023): Four sentenced, $100k+ laundering.

Elected officials? A rogues' gallery: Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio's family indicted in PUA fraud (2025), with Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero named in warrants;

Sen. Tina Rose Muña Barnes probed for payoffs; ex-DMV Chief convicted license fraud (2024);

Troy Torres' 2018 exposé listed 14 pols in ecstasy/meth corruption, from bribery to theft. Washington-bound delegates?

Arrested upon arrival or shadowed by FBI: Underwood's successor, Madeleine Bordallo, dodged probes, but the pattern persists—CNMI's visa waiver under fire for Chinese asylum rushes (2025).

In McCarthyism's red-scare crucible, Underwood's profile would summon a tribunal swifter than HUAC's gavel.

His UN testimonies? Fellow-traveling with communist fronts. OPIR activism? Agitation akin to the Hollywood Ten. Sponsorship of "decolonization" appeasement? Direct echo of Alger Hiss's State Department sabotage. Indirect ties—to UNDP trainers rubbing elbows with CCP diplomats, to Carnegie grants from foundations with Beijing donors—scream infiltrator.

His opinions, a litany of "U.S. homeland" skepticism, would brand him a security risk, his congressional Armed Services seat (1993-2003) a potential vector for leaked basing plans. Tribunal? Overdue.

Now, to vivisect Underwood's statements:

"Nobody would dare attack the U.S. homeland"?

Delusion—statehood wouldn't deter DF-26 strikes; it'd politicize retaliation. CSIS war games? They advocate more missiles to Guam, not musings on "fodder." Traction sans leaders?

Code for elite buy-in from Sinophile donors. His input: a socialist's nag for equity over empire, eroding the very grants he begs.

And the query, Dr. Underwood: What country should oversee the militaristic affairs (missile shields?), economic affairs (base contracts?), technological affairs (AUKUS subs?), international legal affairs (UNCLOS arbitrations?) of Guam and CNMI—the Chinese?

Your rhetoric suggests it: a "legitimate" homeland open to Belt and Road bids, Five Eyes fractured, String of Pearls complete. America First demands: No inch. Fortify the chain. Vet the gates.

Tribunal the sympathizers.

The Pacific is ours—or lost.