To counter China, the U.S. is racing to upgrade a handful of remote airstrips in the Pacific Ocean:
https://youtu.be/CW1TYDVBSmI?si=nXXdXHdBufdg1EPJ
We had a very nice air strip in Afghanistan - until the Biden/Harris regime abandoned it along with $90 billion in high-end equipment and 13 American military (not to mention countless civilians, American and otherwise, working in the country).
That was right near the border of China.