Papua New Guinea may nix China deal
PORT MORESBY: Papua New Guinea said on Tuesday it may spurn a Chinese offer to help its struggling police force, preferring to protect ties with “traditional” security allies.
The Chinese overture came before riots erupted in the capital Port Moresby on January 11 that left at least 25 dead, the government said.
China offered last year to help train and equip the South Pacific nation’s “policing sector,” Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko said.
“This offer is being carefully assessed as we do not want to duplicate or compromise agreements already in place with our traditional security partners, Australia and the United States,” he said in a statement.
“It is not going to be the end of the world if we do not come to an understanding or agreement with China,” he added. “Our relationship is one of great respect and maturity. We are mature enough to know where we stand on different matters.”
The US and its Pacific allies are fending off China’s expanding influence in the region, jolted by a secretive security pact Beijing signed with Solomon Islands in 2022.
Papua New Guinea struck separate security agreements with Washington and Canberra last year.
The opposition hit out on Tuesday at the prospect of Prime Minister James Marape’s government signing any “secret” security pact with China.
“The terrible Port Moresby riots in mid-January are testament to the division and lack of control and discipline now rampant in the PNG police service,” said opposition figure Peter O’Neill, the country’s former prime minister.
Papua New Guinea had “rightfully stuck to Australia” for domestic and regional security, he added.
The Port Moresby riots broke out when members of the overstretched police force went on strike, walking off the job after their pay was mistakenly docked without explanation.
The government would later allege that “rogue” police played a key role in stoking the turmoil. Disgruntled citizens also joined the fray.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his country remained the “security partner of choice” for Papua New Guinea.
“We’re family, and we’ll continue to engage,” he told reporters in the city of Townsville in northeastern Queensland state.
Marape is due to visit Australia and address parliament on February 8, Albanese said.
Papua New Guinea is blessed with vast deposits of gold, gas and minerals, luring investors from around the world, including China.
It is also plagued by entrenched inequality; about 40 percent of the population is thought to live in extreme poverty.
Australia hammered out a security deal with Papua New Guinea last December, including a promise of more police training.
Earlier in the year, Papua New Guinea granted the US “unimpeded” access to key naval bases, ports and airfields, sparking criticism that it had yielded too much influence to a foreign power.