US-Papua New Guinea Defense Deal Seen as Bid to Counter China

(Bloomberg) -- The US and Papua New Guinea signed two new security agreements on Monday aimed at bolstering ties in a move seen as an effort to counter to China’s growing influence in the Pacific.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Prime Minister James Marape in Port Moresby to deepen engagement with a Pacific island nation strategically located near trade routes to allies Australia and Japan.

The Defense Cooperation Agreement reached on Monday “will facilitate bilateral and multilateral exercises and engagements,” the US said in a statement. “It also enables the United States to be more responsive in emergency situations, such as those involving humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.”

The move is the latest step in a period of strategic competition between the US and China in the Pacific after a decade in which Beijing has ramped up its economic and political presence in the region. In April 2022, China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, its first in the Pacific and a diplomatic coup for Beijing.

Blinken made the visit to Papua New Guinea after President Joe Biden scrapped a planned stop there and in Australia in order to return directly to Washington following a visit to Japan for the Group of Seven summit. He would have been the first US president to visit the island, but changed plans to continue talks with Republicans over raising the US debt ceiling.

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The US said a second deal announced Monday will also allow Papua New Guinea to take part in the US Coast Guard’s Shiprider program, a security cooperation program which aims, in part, to help nations protect their sovereignty and natural resources, including fisheries.

That will be seen as an indirect effort to push back on China: Several nations in Southeast Asia have bristled at the armada of Chinese fishing vessels which often swarm around contested reefs, outcrops and islands, saying they are violating national sovereignty.

In addition, the defense pact will also help improve the capacity of the PNG Defense Force and increase stability and security in the region, according to a previous State Department statement. Blinken is slated to meet with Pacific Islands Forum leaders on Biden’s behalf while in Papua New Guinea, and had planned to discuss a range of issues including the climate crisis and advancing economic growth.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also in Papua New Guinea to attend the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation summit and met with Prime Minister Marape on the sidelines.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins earlier said he isn’t concerned that a renewed partnership between the US and Papua New Guinea represents a militarization of the Indo-Pacific region, adding that the pact builds on existing relationships with the US and isn’t just about security.

--With assistance from Tim Smith and Sudhi Ranjan Sen.

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