Papua New Guinea, US to sign security pact with eye on China

SpaceWar.com reports: “Papua New Guinea will sign a defence pact with the United States on Monday, giving US forces access to its airfields and ports as Washington vies with China’s growing footprint in the Pacific region.

In a sign of the intensifying rivalry over the South Pacific, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was not alone in representing major powers in Port Moresby, where the deal is to be signed.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew into town just hours before him on the eve of a summit Monday with 14 South Pacific island states, seeking to assert his nation’s role as an Indo-Pacific power in the face of China’s rise.

Blinken will meet those same South Pacific leaders as the United States aims to counter China’s expanding economic, political and military presence.

But by signing the security deal with PNG Prime Minister James Marape, Blinken will also expand the US military’s capacity to deploy in the region.

Beijing has snapped up mines and ports across the Pacific and last year inked a secretive security pact with the Solomon Islands that allows China to deploy troops to the country…”

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