US One Step Ahead of China in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea, the most populous island nation in the South Pacific, will also receive a doubling of development assistance to $32 million from the United States, including $25 million to prioritize addressing climate change security, according to State Department documents submitted to the US Congress.

Washington is seeking to prevent island nations in the Pacific , which spans 40 million kilometers of ocean, from establishing security ties with China.

US President Joe Biden will sign defense and surveillance agreements with Papua New Guinea. Photo: EPA-EFE

The White House confirmed that Mr. Biden will visit the capital of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, on May 22 on his way to attend the Quad (QUAD) summit, consisting of the US, Japan, India and Australia, in Sydney, Australia. At this event, Mr. Biden will meet with leaders of 18 Pacific island nations.

Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkachenko told Reuters that the defense cooperation agreement between the United States and Papua New Guinea was finalized last week and is awaiting Biden's arrival for formal signing.

Another agreement allowing the US Coast Guard to patrol Papua New Guinea's vast exclusive economic zone with US officials on board as "pilots" will also be signed and will include satellite monitoring, Mr Tkachenko said.

“We can use American satellite security systems. Once we sign, they will help monitor our waters, which we cannot do at the moment,” Mr Tkachenko said.

For Mr Biden, the visit will also be meant to highlight Papua New Guinea's importance to regional security.

Professor David Kilcullen of the University of New South Wales told Reuters that Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles, if deployed in Pacific islands, could block US and Australian naval operations and disrupt vital trade routes.

Mr Kilcullen said: "A US-China conflict could take place across the entire Pacific including Melanesia and Polynesia, not just in the Taiwan Strait (China) and the South China Sea, which puts Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in the spotlight."

China and the Solomon Islands have previously rejected their mutual security pact that allows for naval bases in the region, but Biden’s face-to-face meeting with Pacific leaders is seen in the region as an important step in restoring trust.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/thoi-su-quoc-te/my-di-truoc-trung-quoc-mot-buoc-o-papua-new-guinea-2023051108534753.htm