On a postcard-perfect tropical island in the western Pacific, the United States is bolstering defences at one of its most important military outposts as concern grows over rising tensions between China and Taiwan.
Guam, the largest island in the Mariana chain, is just 50 kilometres long and at most 20 kilometres wide, and boasts a key US Air Force and Naval base.
While there are US bases in Asia closer to the Taiwan strait flashpoint, the island of around 170,000 people is the western-most piece of American territory in the Pacific, allowing a military build-up that would be more difficult for bases on foreign soil.
