APEC: US to join Australia in PNG naval base
Vice President Mike Pence announces joint US-Australian military initiative on Manus Island in a move to lock China out of PNG.
The United States will join with Australia and Papua New Guinea to create a joint defence facility on PNG’s Manus Island in a dramatic move to seize the strategic initiative in the South Pacific amid an aggressive influence push by China.
US Vice President Mike Pence told APEC leaders in Port Moresby today that the US would contribute to the expansion of the Manus Island base, which The Australian revealed in September would be redeveloped as an Australia-PNG joint facility.
“Today it is my privilege to announce that the US will partner with PNG and Australia on their joint initiative on Manus Island,” Mr Pence said in his speech on Saturday.
“We will work with these nations to protect sovereignty and maritime rights of the Pacific Islands as well.”
The move will ensure US and Australian access to the strategically vital deepwater port, which has a sweeping command of Australia’s maritime approaches, is big enough to accommodate aircraft carriers, and has anchorage capacity for hundreds of ships.
Mr Pence used today’s the APEC forum to announced the United States’ trilateral infrastructure fund with Australia and Japan - aimed at countering China surging investments in the region - was now operational.
It’s anticipated the fund will be used to help deliver a major electrification and internet rollout across PNG to be announced tomorrow.
Mr Pence said the fund would support the mobilisation and deployment of private sector investment capital to deliver major new infrastructure projects, enhance digital connectivity and energy infrastructure across the region.
“The Trilateral Partnership seeks to be a force-multiplier in the Indo-Pacific, providing a new vehicle through which countries in the region can coordinate to advance their infrastructure priorities,” Vice President Pence said.
He said the fund would be used for projects “that adhere to international standards and principles for development, including openness, transparency, and fiscal sustainability”.
Scott Morrison said the US involvement in the Lombrum base on Manus would elevate Australia’s relationship with its ANZUS alliance partner “to a new level”.
“This is a strong partnership designed to make a strong Pacific a more prosperous Pacific,” the Prime Minister said.
“This is our family of nations we work with here in the Pacific and we are there very much as an equal family member.”
He said the new strategic initiative would build on Australia’s recently agreed trilateral infrastructure program in the Pacific with the US and Japan, and Australia’s investments and support across the region.
“We we will be working with Pacific Islands at their invitation wherever we have that opportunity,” Mr Morrison said.
He declined to say whether Australian ships would be permanently stationed at Manus, saying the details of the initiative were still being worked through.
Mr Pence hit out at Chinese debt diplomacy in the region, saying Beijing’s loans to developing counties were often too opaque and nations should look to the US rather than China for infrastructure support.
“Too often they come with strings attached and lead to staggering debt,” he said. “Do not accept foreign debt that could compromise your sovereignty.
“Just like America, always put your country first.”
Vice President Pence said the US vision for the region was about “collaboration, not control”.
“Empire and aggression have no place in the Indo-Pacific - this is a region where every nation large and small must be permitted to prosper and thrive,” he said ahead.
It’s not a trap: Xi
China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative is not “a trap”, Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier told Asian and Pacific leaders.
The global infrastructure program has attracted criticism for leaving small countries with large debts, and for expanding China’s security interests. But in a speech to an APEC meeting on Saturday, President Xi said the BRI wasan open platform for co-operation.
“It is not designed to serve any hidden geopolitical agenda,” President Xi said.
“It is not targeted against anyone, and it does not exclude anyone. “Nor is it a trap, as some people have labelled it.”
Australia has not signed up to the BRI, but will work with China on projects that stack up and serve the national interest.
Victoria signed a memorandum of understanding backing the BRI, but it has not committed to any projects.
President Xi called protectionist actions shortsighted and doomed to fail.
“Attempts to erect barriers and cut close economic ties work against the laws of economics and the trends of history. This is a shortsighted approach and it is doomed to failure,” Xi told business leaders on the sidelines of the summit.
“We should say no to protectionism and unilateralism,” urged Xi, in a veiled swipe at the “America First” policies of the US administration.
APEC members the US and China have become embroiled in a trade war that experts warn could be catastrophic for the global economy, with the world’s top two powers going head to head.
Chinese President Xi Jinping: The principle of special and differential treatment, which is a cornerstone of the WTO, is not to be challenged. Otherwise, the very foundation of the multilateral trading system will be shaken.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) November 17, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/RnVYANs24I #APECSummit pic.twitter.com/XlwXt4dFpA
The pair have imposed tariffs worth billions of dollars of each other’s goods and there is little sign of an immediate easing in tensions, with both sides threatening to step up action if necessary.
Xi said the world should “uphold the WTO-centred multilateral trading system, make economic globalisation more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all.”
‘Don’t saddle Pacific with debt’
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told APEC that Australia would work with China to build infrastructure capacity in the region, but investments must be transparent and deliver long term benefits.
“(Infrastructure) that meets genuine needs, and avoids unsustained debt burdens,” Mr Morrison said.
“It must be in the interests of the country in which you are seeking to invest.”
Mr Morrison also pushed back against rising trade barriers in an implicit criticism of the United States, although he said he believed Mr Trump ultimately “wants to see open, freer trade”.
.@ScottMorrisonMP: Tit-for-tat protectionism and threats of trade wars are in no one's interests economically and undermine the authority of the global and regional trading rules that benefit us and the people.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) November 17, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/9NMfboIcpX #APECSummit pic.twitter.com/VgXvo8ecT2
“Tit-for-tat protectionism and threats of trade wars are in no-ones interests economically, and undermine the authority of the global and regional trading rules that benefit us all,” the Prime Minister said.
“The solution to perceived unfair trade practices is more likely to be found around the negotiating table than it is in re-building a tariff wall.”
“We want to strengthen and improve the WTO and we will continue to pursue liberalisation whereverwe can.”
After his speech Mr Morrison said he was “listening” to concerns about international trade “We’re just listening carefully, and we’re hearing what the various views are about what some of the frustrations are in relation to the WTO,” he told reporters.
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Indian president Kovind to visit Australia
President Ram Nath Kovind of India will visit Australia next week, the first ever state visit by the Republic’s leader.
On his visit, President Kovind will travel to Sydney and Melbourne between November 21 and 23, also meeting with the Indian-Australian community, which is one of the largest communities in Australia.
Mr Morrison welcomed news of the visit and said he looks forward to building on the relationship between the two countries. “Our two nations have deep economic, government and people-to-people ties. We are strong democracies and share a longstanding commitment to the rule of law,” he said.
The trip follows a visit by Governor-General Peter Cosgrove to India in March.
- Additional reporting AAP, AFP
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