KOROR, Palau (Kyodo) -- Palau's reelected President Surangel Whipps said Tuesday he may ask the United States for a Patriot missile defense system, citing a recent Chinese missile test as a "direct threat" to the Pacific island nation.

Under the Compact of Free Association, an agreement allowing U.S. funding and military access to Palau, Whipps, 56, said the United States is responsible for defending his country of around 18,000 people.

"We have also the power to request additional (defense support) if we feel there's a threat," Whipps told Kyodo News, hours before winning an election that gave him another four years in office. In September, China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that Whipps said intruded into Palau's airspace.

Whipps believes he and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump are "very much in agreement" regarding security. He noted the United States will install defense radars in Palau's Angaur and Ngaraard states, and expand a seaport in Koror.

Along with 11 other countries, Whipps said Palau should maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan, regarded by China as a renegade province, "because it's built on mutual respect, rule of law and really, democracy and freedom...which is something we should all promote."

He accused China of "weaponizing tourism" when it issued a travel warning for Palau in June that prevented Chinese travelers from visiting his country.