Papua New Guinea says it isn’t trying to be caught in a battle for regional dominance between China and Australia.
The Pacific island’s Foreign Minister, Justin Tkatchenko, mentioned the nation was open to working with “all our partners”.
Anthony Albanese will on Thursday be the primary Australian Prime Minister to go to Papua New Guinea since 2018 and the primary world chief to make a speech to the nation’s parliament as a part of a two-day journey to the Pacific nation.
While there, Mr Albanese will announce a brand new defence cope with his counterpart James Marape – emphasising the necessity for a “family first approach” to regional safety.
In his speech, Mr Albanese will make a sly dig at China – who’ve sought to ink safety offers with different Pacific nations after securing a cope with the Solomon Islands.
Against a backdrop of China constructing a brand new army hospital within the nation, Mr Albanese mentioned the Australia-PNG deal can be a treaty primarily based on “deep trust”.
But Mr Tkatchenko mentioned China was an “important strategic partner” to his nation’s improvement.
“We’ve always had that relationship. China is one of our biggest economic partners, and we work with them in many different ways on the understanding where we are and what we can do together without causing issues amongst ourselves and our partners,” he instructed ABC Radio.
“We’re open to working with all our partners.”
Pacific Minister Pat Conroy earlier sought to downplay claims Australia was in contest with China for affect in PNG.
He mentioned the Australian authorities was dedicated to deepening relationships with Pacific Island nations and being the “partner of choice”.
“Is it possible that Papua New Guinea might want to have multiple partners of choice on security? It’s not for us to dictate what other countries do,” he instructed ABC Radio.
Earlier this week, China’s ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian mentioned Beijing’s intentions within the Pacific had been for peaceable improvement functions solely, sustaining there was “no military intention”.
Mr Conroy mentioned Australia’s bilateral defence treaty is about “opening up legal mechanisms for greater co-operation”.
“It’s about making it easier for Australia to support the security aspirations of Papua New Guinea and vice versa,” he mentioned.
“That could include hypothetically allowing more visits by Australian naval vessels or Papua New Guinea naval vessels to Australia. It could include greater military co-operation in training, so it’s about putting in place the legal framework to allow greater co-operation.”
