With a wary eye on China, Australia and Papua New Guinea ink strategic partnership

SEOUL, South Korea — With a wary eye on rising Chinese influence in the region, the leaders of Australia and its northern neighbor Papua New Guinea on Thursday announced the signing of a new bilateral security agreement.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinea Premier James Marape said the deal agreed to in Canberra is intended to bolster Papua New Guinea’s policing, judicial and defense capabilities.

Mr. Albanese said the deal “will make it easier for … Australia and Papua New Guinea to support each other’s security and the region’s stability.” Mr. Marape said the agreement made clear that the two countries are “brother and sister nations.”

The Biden administration had signed its own deal with Papua New Guinea earlier this year that, according to the Agence France-Presse news service, provided the Pentagon “unimpeded access” to the six bases in the country to pre-position equipment, supplies and materiel. The U.S. and Australian pacts mark the latest moves on the fast-changing Indo-Pacific strategic chessboard, with China and the U.S. cultivating countries across the region in a bid for influence.

Despite the warm talk, Mr. Marape was at pains to say his government did not see the deal as an anti-China move.

“Our major foreign policy as ’Friends to all, enemies to none’ remains. And it’s never picking sides,” he told reporters in Canberra Thursday.

The Torres Strait separating Australia and Papua New Guinea is a transit channel for international shipping — and warships — between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The strategic chokepoint made Papua New Guinea and the waters around it the site of multiple major battles during World War II.

As China’s maritime and economic reach extends, the Torres Strait and its geographic vicinity are gaining renewed visibility.

Beijing in July announced a partnership on “law enforcement and security matters” in the Solomon Islands, east of the Torres Strait, alarming both Washington and Canberra. That deal, signed in Beijing by Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Solomon Islands President Manasseh Sogavare, was a special jolt for Australia, giving China new access into what had long been considered Australia’s backyard.

China also offered commercial enticements via bank loans and telecommunications projects in the Solomon Islands.

The moves further strained diplomatic and commercial ties between China and Australia under previous Prime Minister Scott Morrison, as did a recent incident in which Australian military divers were hit with a sonar strike by a Chinese destroyer in the waters near the coast of Japan.

Australia has been reaching out for allies under new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese — Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Dec. 4 signed an agreement with French counterpart Catherine Colonna for joint military training and intelligence-sharing between Australian forces to French Pacific territories. 

In January, Canberra signed a reciprocal access agreement with Japan, a World War II foe and now an ally. Under it, the two countries can seamlessly move troops and equipment with no legal barriers, enabling joint exercises and upgrading interoperability.