ZCZC
BFF-16
US-PNG-CHINA-AUSTRALIA-MILITARY
Pence says US to partner in Papua New Guinea military base
PORT MORESBY, Nov 17, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The United States said Saturday it
will join forces with Australia in the development of a new naval base in
Papua New Guinea, a project seen as a move to curb China’s influence in the
Pacific.
Australia, which has long-standing military ties with the US, has already
announced plans to redevelop PNG’s Lombrum Naval Base on Manus island.
Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday on a visit to Papua New Guinea.
which is hosting the APEC regional summit. that the US would join forces in
the project.
“The United States will partner with Papua New Guinea and Australia on
their joint initiative at Lombrum Naval Base,” he said.
“We will work with these two nations to protect sovereignty and maritime
rights in the Pacific Islands. ”
China has been showering billions of dollars in infrastructure loans on
island nations in the Pacific, a region that is vital to international
shipping and provides a stepping stone to project military and economic
power.
Australia has been critical of Beijing’s “soft diplomacy” and rising
influence in the region, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned this month
that confrontation must not define China’s relationship with the US.
“Inevitably, in the period ahead, we will be navigating a higher degree of
US-China strategic competition,” Morrison said in a speech where he navigated
a careful line between the alliance with the US and engaging a more assertive
China.
Australia — a member of the “Five Eyes” Western intelligence alliance —
now finds itself in the middle of one of the 21st century’s geopolitical
hotspots as a battle for influence in the South Pacific unfolds.
The Papua New Guinea naval base move came after reports that China had
approached Vanuatu about the possibility of opening a military base there.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1009 hrs