China warns PNG on citizen safety after businesses looted, torched
China has made ‘stern representations’ to Papua New Guinea after Chinese-owned shops were looted and torched during violent riots that claimed 16 lives.
China has demanded Papua New Guinea protect its citizens and their property after Chinese-owned shops were looted and torched during violent riots in PNG biggest cities that claimed the lives of 16 people.
The Chinese embassy in Port Moresby lodged “stern representations” with the PNG government on Thursday as its expatriate business owners counted their losses and the tensions spread to provincial centres.
PNG Prime Minister James Marape has declared a state of emergency and vowed to crack down on “lawlessness” that left nine people dead in Port Moresby and seven killed in the country’s second city of Lae.
The state of emergency will last 14 days and more than 1000 defence personnel are on standby if the violence escalates.
Mr Marape faces growing political pressure on his leadership, with six MPs splitting from his governing coalition as a result of the unrest.
The violence erupted on Wednesday after a public service pay “glitch” sparked protests by police, soldiers and public servants, followed by a wave of opportunistic crime and violence.
The PNG Defence Force and police mobile squads were called in to restore order in the capital, which was tense but calm on Thursday.
But violence and looting were reported in regional cities, including the Eastern Highlands capital of Goroka, and Kokopo in East New Britain.
As devastated Chinese shop owners surveyed the damage, the Chinese embassy said an unspecified number of its citizens were injured in the riots and called for the perpetrators to be “severely punished”.
It demanded the Marape government guarantee the safety of its citizens and take steps to protect their businesses from the “smashing, looting and burning”.
“The Chinese embassy in Papua New Guinea has lodged solemn representations with the Papua New Guinea side over the attacks on the Chinese shops,” the embassy said in a statement on WeChat.
The targeting of Chinese-owned businesses follows similar attacks during riots in the Solomon Islands in late 2021, which paved the way for a controversial security agreement between Beijing and Honiara.
There was no word on Thursday whether China had sought to provide security support to PNG to help maintain order.
Anthony Albanese said Australia, which has a bilateral security agreement with PNG, had not received a request from Port Moresby for help to quell the unrest.
“We continue to urge calm at this difficult time,” the Prime Minister said.
Mr Marape had flagged “state of emergency arrangements in the city and urban areas” earlier on Thursday.
He said the participation by police members in Wednesday’s protest over underpayments to public sector workers had “led to riots and looting in certain parts of our city”, and offenders in “other centres are trying to copy what happened in Port Moresby”.
The Prime Minister said the country was facing difficult economic times, and “such lawlessness does not help”.
He encouraged “all our citizens to step up and give respect to your country”.
A number of the dead were reported to have died of gunshot wounds, while paramedics also treated patients for severe burns.
Video footage showed looters in the capital dashing into stores through smashed glass windows, stuffing stolen goods into cardboard boxes, shopping trolleys and plastic buckets.
One man was seen lugging an entire chest freezer away on his shoulders. Buildings and cars were set alight, stirring up thick plumes of black smoke that hung over the worst-hit parts of the city.
The unrest comes as a grace period preventing a vote of no confidence in Mr Marape’s leadership is due to expire next month.
Former prime minister Peter O’Neill called on Mr Marape to resign on Thursday. “You have failed in your duties and must now do the honourable thing and step down,” Mr O’Neill said.
He said the Prime Minister was “out of touch and thinking of himself and his cronies rather than the people”.
“There is no shame in taking responsibility but it is absolutely shameful to continue knowing you have lost command and control,” he said.
One of the MPs to resign from the government, Hiri-Koiari MP Keith Iduhu, said he was “shocked and ashamed of the level of chaos and civil unrest our capital faced because of bureaucratic negligence and confusion”.
“Throughout the ordeal, I felt your silence and inaction to handle the situation was deplorable,” he wrote in a letter to Mr Marape.
National Capital District governor Powes Parkop said the unrest represented an “unprecedented level of strife” in Port Moresby.
“What is most important is that we must end this strife,” Mr Parkop told a local radio station.
“Nobody will be a winner in this type of civil unrest.”
Additional reporting: AFP
