Carson warns of Chinese ‘infiltrating’ Caribbean as he pushes Puerto Rico statehood

Republican US presidential candidate Ben Carson has endorsed US statehood for Puerto Rico, citing its “very strategic” location for military defence, and raised concern about Chinese “infiltrating” the Caribbean.

Speaking at a convention for Puerto Rican gubernatorial candidate Ricardo Rossello, a member of the island's pro-statehood party, Carson said on Sunday he “would be incredibly honoured and delighted for Puerto Rico to be the 51st state.”

“One thing I've found when I have come to Puerto Rico is extremely friendly people,” the 64-year-old retired neurosurgeon said, adding that “we have probably more patriotic Puerto Ricans than almost any other state.”

Statehood is a central political issue in Puerto Rico, a US territory whose two main parties are the pro-statehood PNP and pro-commonwealth PPD, each of which have Democrats and Republicans within their ranks.

The island's fate has also made it onto US presidential candidates' agendas because Puerto Ricans can vote in presidential primaries - though not general elections - and because Florida, a key swing state, is home to nearly 1 million Puerto Ricans.

Carson has found little support among Republicans in Puerto Rico, who mostly favour candidates Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, both of whom have endorsed statehood for the U.S. commonwealth.