The US has advised Papua New Guinea (PNG) to reject China’s proposal for a security agreement, citing the latter’s tendency to not “play by the rules.”
US’ Warnings
During an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald on his visit to Australia, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma said that Washington had urged PNG to turn down the offer from Beijing. “That sort of security guarantee comes with consequences. It comes with costs. And we’ve seen that the Chinese commitment in defence or investment comes with a high cost. That’s what we’d say to PNG.”
Verma also stated openly that “it is a competition” for influence in the region between China and the US and its allies, which includes Australia, and that “[the US has] to compete aggressively.” Further, he mentioned last week that the US “would like to see people choose security arrangement or investment opportunities or advanced connectivity with countries that play by the rules, that live up to the international standards.” “China has shown that it is not doing that. China has shown that it’s not interested in the modern rules-based order,” he added.
Between 2016 and 2022, #China invested close to US$ 7.01 billion in the #Melanesian region. In #PNG, the #China EXIM bank has loaned the PNG government US$ 3.25 billion to build the island nation’s first-ever cross-country road network, notes Prithvi Gupta https://t.co/BInBPt0Vaz
— ORFEcon (@orfecon) February 4, 2024
Additionally, Verma warned of the “false promise of authoritarian regimes.” Countries in investment arrangements with China found that “it can be a debt trap that many countries have gotten themselves into and have tried to get out of. There are other options out there,” the Deputy Secretary suggested.
China’s Security Deal
The senior US official’s comments come after Beijing tried to include 10 Pacific Island nations in a single, region-wide security treaty last year but was turned down. It is now seeking one-on-one deals with individual countries.
Last week, PNG’s Foreign Minister (FM) Justin Tkachenko revealed that his government was in the early stages of negotiating a security deal with Beijing. “We deal with China at this stage only at the economic and trade level. They are one of our biggest trading partners, but they have offered to assist our policing and security on the internal security side. They have offered it to us, but we have not accepted it at this point in time,” Tkachenko said.
The FM also reassured Canberra, saying that the offer from China was still under consideration and that PNG “will not jeopardise or compromise relations with [its] traditional security partners.” Last year, Australia and the US both signed security deals with PNG.