US President Joe Biden is set to become the first sitting US president in at least a century to visit Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinean Minister of Foreign Affairs Justin Tkatchenko said yesterday, revealing plans for a brief, but symbolic trip.
The region around the country could prove vital in any possible military conflagration over Taiwan.
Biden plans to stop at Port Moresby next months as he travels between a G7 summit in Japan and a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue summit in Sydney, Tkatchenko said.
Photo: Reuters
“He is coming on the 22nd, in the morning, and will be here for three hours only,” Tkatchenko said, adding that talks were expected to focus on the economy, security and climate change.
Biden’s trip might put the finishing touches on a US-Papua New Guinea Defense Cooperation Agreement that would allow more joint training and the development of security infrastructure.
The presidential trip is a nod toward the country’s rapidly growing strategic importance, as the US and its allies tussle with China for influence across the Asia-Pacific region.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) visited Port Moresby in 2018 to much fanfare, with Chinese flags hoisted across the capital and his motorcade whizzing past gathered crowds.
The trip was seen as a major diplomatic coup for Beijing. US and Australian officials have been concerned by a rapid uptick in Chinese investment in the resource-rich nation.
There have also been concerns that China has been trying to establish a military outpost, prompting Washington to move toward establishing a joint naval facility at Lombrum on Manus Island.
Construction started in mid-2020, according to the Australian Department of Defence, which is also taking part in the initiative.
Four Guardian-class patrol boats are expected to be based at the facility.
US Department of State records, which date back to then-US president Theodore Roosevelt’s administration in 1901, show that no sitting US president has visited Papua New Guinea.
However, the importance of the region has come more sharply into focus since China and the Solomon Islands agreed on a security pact last year.
The details of the agreement have not been made public — at Beijing’s request — but a draft seen by reporters has provisions that would allow China to deploy troops to the country.
Washington and other capitals have expressed concern that Beijing could also establish a military outpost.
Last month, a state-backed Chinese company won a contract to develop the international port in the capital Honiara, a major victory in Beijing’s quest to gain a strategic foothold in the South Pacific.
RESTRAINTS: Should China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, China would be excluded from major financial institutions, the bill says The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which states that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude Beijing from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China must be prepared
PEACE AT LAST? UN experts had warned of threats and attacks ahead of the voting, but after a turbulent period, Bangladesh has seemingly reacted to the result with calm The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) yesterday celebrated a landslide victory in the first elections held since a deadly 2024 uprising, with party leader Tarique Rahman to become prime minister. Bangladesh Election Commission figures showed that the BNP alliance had won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Islamist-led Jamaat-e-Islami alliance. The US embassy congratulated Rahman and the BNP for a “historic victory,” while India praised Rahman’s “decisive win” in a significant step after recent rocky relations with Bangladesh. China and Pakistan, which grew closer to Bangladesh since the uprising and the souring of ties with India, where ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina
FAST-TRACK: The deal is to be sent to the legislature, but time is of the essence, as Trump had raised tariffs on Seoul when it failed to quickly ratify a similar pact Taiwan and the US on Thursday signed a trade agreement that caps US tariffs on Taiwanese goods at 15 percent and provides preferential market access for US industrial and agricultural exports, including cars, and beef and pork products. The Taiwan-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade confirms a 15 percent US tariff for Taiwanese goods, and grants Taiwanese semiconductors and related products the most-favorable-treatment under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, the Executive Yuan said. In addition, 2,072 items — representing nearly 20 percent of Taiwan’s total exports to the US — would be exempt from additional tariffs and be subject only to
The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday released the first images from its Formosat-8A satellite, featuring high-resolution views of Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), Tainan’s Anping District (安平), Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor (興達港), Japan’s National Stadium in Tokyo and Barcelona airport. Formosat-8A, named the “Chi Po-lin Satellite” after the late Taiwanese documentary filmmaker Chi Po-lin (齊柏林), was launched on Nov. 29 last year. It is designed to capture images at a 1m resolution, which can be sharpened to 0.7m after processing, surpassing the capabilities of its predecessor, Formosat-5, the agency said. It is the first of TASA’s eight-satellite Formosat-8 constellation to be sent into orbit and
RSS