The U.S. military would have “unimpeded access” to sites on Papua New Guinea for pre-positioning troops, according to a deal tabled in the Indo-Pacific island country’s parliament on Wednesday, AFP reported.
The Department of Defense inked a security agreement with Papua New Guinea in May promising upgraded defense cooperation as the U.S. and allies seek to create a hedge around Chinese military expansion in the region, according to a press release. Details of the agreement are now becoming clear; the U.S. would be able to use six key ports and airports on the island for basing troops and naval vessels, expanding the U.S. military’s strategic footprint, according to a draft of the deal Papua New Guinea’s legislature passed Wednesday that was obtained by the AFP.
The agreement offers the Pentagon “unimpeded access” to the six sites and also maintain “exclusive” control of some zones for development and “construction activities,” AFP reported, citing the deal.
It opens up a coveted deep water port for the U.S. military at Lombrum Naval Base, Manus Island, which has functioned in previous conflicts as a base for U.S., British, Australian, German and Japanese troops, according to AFP. During World War II, it served as one of the largest U.S. bases in the Pacific, operating six battleships and 20 aircraft carriers that proved indispensable in retaking the Philippines from Japan.
“We have allowed our military to be eroded in the last 48 years,” Prime Minister James Marape told Parliament Wednesday evening, justifying the deal amidst criticism of that it would impinge sovereignty, AFP reported. “Sovereignty is defined by the robustness and strength of your military.”
China has tried to develop military installations at Lombrum in recent years, but the U.S. and Australia in 2018 elbowed China out with a joint agreement to develop the facility, according to AFP.
Troops stationed at Lombrom could be called on to reinforce American units in Guam, which is seen as the front line of U.S. defenses in the Pacific and a strategic target for Beijing in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan where the U.S. becomes involved, according to AFP.
#USINDOPACOM Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Sklenka meets with Papua New Guinea Defense Force Chief Major Gen. Mark Bugave Gunena Goina to discuss the
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relationship & the importance of a #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific.
: SFC Samuel D. Northrup pic.twitter.com/Th5QFaUMRw
— U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (@INDOPACOM) May 20, 2022
President Joe Biden planned to visit Papua New Guinea in May to sign the agreement and symbolically demonstrate strengthening ties with its government but canceled the trip in order to deal with the debt ceiling crisis brewing in Washington.
Washington and Beijing are vying for favor with a score of countries, some just small islands, in the Indo-Pacific region, AFP reported. Both have sought to leverage diplomatic and financial support in exchange for basing arrangements and strategic assistance as tensions heat up in the region.
In 2022, China inked a secretive security deal with the Solomon Islands giving Beijing permission to deploy troops to the islands.
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