You’re reading The Husk's Friday edition, our Weekender, a countdown/roundup of miscellanea from Micronesia, Guam, and Earth.
…Taiwan-Guam-US-China things
Marines from Taiwan are training on Guam, aka Uncle Sam territory. Probably not China’s favorite thing.
Guam officials were hush-hush on the whole thing early in the week. A couple of days later, Guam senators were briefed by U.S. military officials about China’s potential threat to Guam, at the request of the island’s congress representative. One Guam senator told KUAM. “What happens in Taiwan will trigger the importancy of our island in this theater. But I’m confident that in the presentation that they are more than aware and they are ready to protect our island.”
The mayors were also part of the briefing and “are now better equipped to respond to constituent concerns about regional security, and can ‘quell’ any unsubstantiated fears they may have,” the Guam Daily Post reported.
Following a visit by a U.S. delegation this week, The Associated Press reported Chinese forces held some exercises near Taiwan “in response to” some Americans visiting Taiwan. The AP reported, “Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China considers the delegation’s visit a ‘serious violation’ of U.S. commitments not to have formal relations with Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.”1
Meanwhile the U.S. Navy’s “most lethal aircraft carrier” pulled into Guam on Veteran’s Day.
…cases the Guam Police Department forgot about
The Guam Daily Post reported GPD has 103 unsolved cases but there are two cases involving Micronesian men that are not included in this list.
The homicide of Sharkey Ruben from 2016 and the 2015 case of Mike Limur who has been missing since 2015. I asked police about Mr. Limur in 2020 and they confirmed it was still an open case. GPD has not released any information about the status of either case, so from the public’s perspective, the cases have not been solved— and worse— they aren’t on this list of unsolved cases GPD is tracking. 2
…thing from Micronesia
US slammed for assigning ‘desk officers’ to renegotiate Compacts of Free Association, per the Pacific Island Times.3
Chikin Meļeļe is looking for writers from Micronesia, especially those who can write in their native tongue. Reach out to them on Facebook or their website chikinmelele.com.4 Also, just check out their website. It’s pretty cool.
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HE SAID SERIOUS VIOLATION.
Some stories stay with you and if you read the statements from Sharkey Ruben’s sister and Mike Limur’s brother, you might understand why. My first instinct, when I saw the Post reported about unsolved cases, was to search for Sharkey’s and Mike Limur’s names. I was hoping the police hadn’t forgotten about them.
About Chikin Meļeļe (from their website):
Chikin Meļeļe ej juon nuujpepa onlain eo ejeje ilo ruo kajin jim̧or, Kajin M̧ajeļ im Pālle. Kein m̧oktata n̄an kwaļo̧k nuuj jān Ri M̧ajeļ ilo Amedka. Patrick Boaz ekar jinoe ilo 2015 im kar kwaļo̧k onlain ilo 2020.
Chikin Meļeļe is a bilingual digital newspaper written in both the Marshallese and English languages. It is the first Marshallese publication here in the United States of America, founded in 2015 by Patrick Boaz and published online in 2020.
Bonus image of Tuvalu’s foreign minister giving a speech to the UN on the actual front lines of climate change.
Boonie bonus from the New York Times