Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) yesterday signed a security agreement that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his counterpart, James Marape, said showed the closeness of the two nations.
The deal is designed to bolster Papua New Guinea’s internal security through more assistance in policing, defense and the judiciary as the Pacific islands’ largest nation seeks to develop its economy.
Amid strategic competition between China and the US in the region, PNG in May signed a defense deal with the US to upgrade its military bases, and is boosting trade ties with China.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Marape told a press conference with Albanese in Canberra that the agreement with Australia showed they were “brother and sister nations,” but added that PNG would not pick sides and had a foreign policy of “friends to all.”
Albanese said the deal “will make it easier for Australia to help PNG address its internal security needs and for Australia and Papua New Guinea to support each other’s security and the region’s stability.”
He paid tribute to the support PNG’s population gave to Australian service members during World War II, and said it was a defense relationship forged through sacrifice.
“For our interests going forward, we have no closer friends than Papua New Guinea,” Albanese said.
PNG’s judiciary, public service and borders were established by Australia before PNG became an independent nation 48 years ago, Marape said.
“You have always given support to us. What happens up north of your borders has deep, deep shared effect, benefit, consequences, on our region,” he added.
Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy told the Australian Broadcasting Corp Australia would spend A$200 million (US$131 million) on police training and infrastructure to help PNG double its police force to 10,000 officers.
Australian and other Commonwealth nation police will be hired by PNG to fill gaps in about 50 police management roles on short-term contracts.
The agreement says that enhancing PNG’s capabilities contributes to “Pacific-led regional security and stability,” and that the two nations will prioritize consultations with each other on PNG’s need for security-related equipment, infrastructure and training.
As China has sought to boost its security presence in the Pacific islands, signing deals to equip and train police in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, where it is a large infrastructure lender, Australia has said security should be provided by Pacific countries.
The Australia-PNG deal says the two nations would consult if there is a threat to peace in the Pacific or an external armed attack on either party.
Conroy said it was “very strong” language that was comparable to commitments in Australia’s security alliance with the US.
The deal also covers classified information sharing, critical infrastructure, cyber, maritime and aviation security, and health.
China’s military yesterday showed off its machine-gun equipped robot battle “dogs” at the start of its biggest ever drills with Cambodian forces. More than 2,000 troops, including 760 Chinese military personnel, are taking part in the drills at a remote training center in central Kampong Chhnang Province and at sea off Preah Sihanouk Province. The 15-day exercise, dubbed Golden Dragon, also involves 14 warships — three from China — two helicopters and 69 armored vehicles and tanks, and includes live-fire, anti-terrorism and humanitarian rescue drills. The hardware on show included the so-called “robodogs” — remote-controlled four-legged robots with automatic rifles mounted on their
A Philippine boat convoy bearing supplies for Filipino fishers yesterday said that it was headed back to port, ditching plans to sail to a reef off the Southeast Asian country after one of their boats was “constantly shadowed” by a Chinese vessel. The Atin Ito (“This Is Ours”) coalition convoy on Wednesday set sail to distribute fuel and food to fishers and assert Philippine rights in the disputed South China Sea. “They will now proceed to the Subic fish port to mark the end of their successful mission,” the group said in a statement. A Philippine Coast Guard vessel escorting the convoy was
DISPUTED WATERS: The Philippines accused China of building an artificial island on Sabina Shoal, while Beijing said Manila was trying to mislead the global community The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is committed to sustaining a presence in a disputed area of the South China Sea to ensure Beijing does not carry out reclamation activities at Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Reef), its spokesperson said yesterday. The PCG on Saturday said it had deployed a ship to Sabina Shoal, where it accused China of building an artificial island, amid an escalating maritime row, adding two other vessels were in rotational deployment in the area. Since the ship’s deployment in the middle of last month, the PCG said it had discovered piles of dead and crushed coral that had been dumped
STREET WATCH: Residents watched over barricades blocking roads and flew white flags to show that they intended to keep an eye on their neighborhoods France yesterday deployed troops to New Caledonia’s ports and international airport, banned TikTok and imposed a state of emergency after three nights of clashes that have left four dead and hundreds wounded. Pro-independence, largely indigenous protests against a French plan to impose new voting rules on its Pacific archipelago have spiraled into the deadliest violence since the 1980s, with a police officer among several killed by gunfire. On roads, the torched detritus amassed over four days of unrest was scattered amid fist-size hunks of rock and cement that appeared to have been flung during riots. Armored vehicles roved the city’s palm-lined boulevards, usually