The US and Australia are rushing to sign security deals with Papua New Guinea (PNG) in a bid to counter China’s rising military presence in the region.
US-PNG Security Deal
A delegation from PNG will visit Honolulu in Hawaii next month to discuss the progress on their defence deal.
In an interview with ABC News, PNG’s Foreign Minister (FM) Justin Tkachenko, said that the US has “stepped up” its engagement in the region and “[wants] to make [its] presence known.”
Referring to the Solomon Islands’ security deal with China last year, Tkachenko said that the US has since “taken a fairly serious role now” in the region, which has “created a tsunami throughout the Pacific region and put more concentration on the area.”
We applaud the Papua New Guinea government’s announcement of closing the “Papua New Guinea Trade Office in Taiwan”. pic.twitter.com/bV74peS5Ou
— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) January 12, 2023
The PNG FM added that the Defence Cooperation Agreement between both countries will be “focused on capacity building for the PNG defence force in training and infrastructure.” Calling it a “big one,” the diplomat said the agreement would allow “both defence forces working together now and into the future for the security of the pacific region and the region that we live in.”
He further clarified that the agreement would not allow the US to station its military assets on the island nation. “Yes, training is definitely one [part of it], but not building up the US forces here in Papua New Guinea.”
Commenting on the progress of negotiations, Tkachenko said the agreement was already “about 30 per cent there,” and that its conclusion “would be halfway through this year.”
“Basically, everything is there, the most important thing is the legal clearance — making sure our sovereignty is protected and making sure we get things right from the beginning and not halfway through,” he stated.
Australia-PNG Security Deal
Australian PM Anthony Albanese and his PNG counterpart James Marape said last week that they had pledged to sign a new bilateral security treaty within the next four months, which would cover areas including climate change and cybersecurity, as well as “more traditional challenges.”
Their announcement came two days after the PNG announced its decision to close its trade office in Taiwan due to “insufficient economic benefit,” reflecting its growing closeness to China, and effectively making Australia more anxious.
Our two nations are friends, partners and equals.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 12, 2023
We share a common determination to shape our own futures and seize the opportunities of this moment, in this region.
Maholopa Laveil, a Foundation for Development Cooperation Pacific Fellow at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, told the South China Morning Post that the “accelerated timeline” of Australia’s new security deal, details of which will be finalised by April, “certainly speaks to the urgency which Australia feels.”
China’s Growing Regional Presence
Last March, the Solomon Islands officially confirmed that it had signed a wide-ranging security pact with China, which Western governments fear will increase Chinese military foothold in the South Pacific. Leaked drafts of the deal hinted that the scope of the deal would allow China to further expand its presence in the region by basing navy warships in the Pacific.
The news was met with widespread criticism from neighbouring countries, including Australia, Micronesia, and New Zealand, which were worried about the expanding Chinese presence in their “backyard.”
In Solomon Islands, people think highly of China because we have delivered for their country. pic.twitter.com/odCkc2X7od
— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) October 8, 2022
Further fanning tensions of Chinese influence in the region, the Solomon Islands told the US, in August, that it was temporarily suspending the entry of all naval vessels to its ports after a US Coast Guard vessel was refused clearance for a scheduled port call.
This prompted Western powers to rush to counter Chinese presence by signing their own security deals with Pacific island nations.