PNG to ‘stick with’ Australia on security matters, Tkatchenko says
Papua New Guinea’s Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko has hosed down reports the country is in talks with China on a new security agreement.
Papua New Guinea's security woes will be at the top of the agenda in talks between Anthony Albanese and his PNG counterpart James Marape next week, as Beijing pushes the Pacific nation to accept help from Chinese police.
Mr Marape, who is due to visit Canberra for a historic address to parliament, will urge Mr Albanese to fast-track policing support under a new bilateral security agreement, after the country was rocked by riots earlier this month.
It’s understood PNG may also seek Australian support to overhaul its public sector payroll system, after a salary “glitch” sparked violent protests by renegade police and soldiers.
PNG Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko hosed down reports on Tuesday that the country was in talks with China on a new security agreement, indicating PNG was poised to reject Beijing’s offer last September of police training and equipment.
“The offer is there and we will assess it,” he said.
“But we are not going to duplicate at all any arrangements we have with other countries. We stick with our traditional partners.”
Mr Albanese said on Tuesday that PNG was a sovereign government that had “no closer friend than Australia”.
“We are the security partner of choice for Papua New Guinea, as we are for most of the countries in the Pacific,” he said.
Mr Tkatchenko said PNG’s primary security partners were Australia, New Zealand and the US, and increasingly Indonesia.
“Our relationship with China we see completely differently. They are our economic partner; they are our trading partner,” he said.
His comments will be reassuring to the Australian government, and especially Australia’s new high commissioner to PNG, John Feakes, who was due to arrive in Port Moresby on Tuesday.
As well as its new security pact with Australia, finalised in December, PNG recently signed a sweeping security agreement with the US, and has renewed its border security agreement with Indonesia.
The Australian government is facing fresh challenges in the Pacific amid signs Tuvalu will seek to renegotiate its “Falepili Union”, and Nauru’s recent decision to end diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favour of China.
The upcoming Solomon Islands election will also prove to be a test for the government, as China seeks to cement its influence through a re-elected Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.
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