Australia Inks ‘Historic’ Security Deal With PNG to Counter Beijing

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (2nd R) participates in an official signing ceremony with Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape (2nd L) at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Dec. 7, 2023. Hilary Wardhaugh/AFP via Getty Images

Australia and its nearby Papua New Guinea (PNG) have inked a landmark security deal to deepen defence ties as Canberra seeks to counter the Chinese regime’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PNG’s James Marape signed the wide-ranging treaty at Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra on Dec. 7, two months after the PNG Prime Minister met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The bilateral agreement would see PNG recruit Australian police to serve in key positions in the PNG police force as the Pacific country grapples with domestic security issues, including intertribal violence, corruption and gender-based violence.

“Papua New Guinea has offered to open the Training Centre to other Pacific police forces,” said the two leaders in a joint statement.

“Papua New Guinea and Australia will continue to support the development of regional policing in the Pacific through the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police as our region’s policing institution.”

‘Historic’ Deal

Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Albanese said the agreement “builds on our comprehensive strategic and economic partnership.”

The PNG prime minister described the pact as “historic.”

The agreement was made six months after PNG coined a security deal with the United States, but when asked whether the deal could be taken as a sign that Port Moresby is choosing Canberra and Washington over Beijing in the strategic competition, Mr. Marape said his government is “never picking a side.”

“Every relationship has its own peculiar views,” he said. “Our major foreign policy as friends to all, enemies to none, remains.”

Detail Of The Pact

The deal would enhance partnerships in areas such as national security, defence, law and justice sector, border, maritime, and aviation security, critical infrastructure, cyber security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and the environment.

Australia would also invest $200 million (US$131 million) to support PNG’s national security priorities.

Under the agreement, PNG—which is only a few kilometres to Australia’s north—can request assistance from Australia and vice versa when facing security-related issues or threats affecting its sovereignty.

Notably, both countries would need to make sure that their security cooperation is “no less favourable than would be afforded to personnel from other countries carrying out similar functions.”

The Australian and PNG governments are not allowed to transfer or disclose classified information between them to a third party without prior written consent of the other party.

Australia, PNG and China

The move came as Beijing continues to expand its influence in the Indo-Pacific, a region with significant strategic interest. It was deemed by the regime as a diplomatic battleground to contest with Taipei, Washington and Canberra for influence and to reshape regional order.

According to a draft of the regional and economic agreement that was leaked in 2022, economic cooperation is a pathway for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to enhance its security presence in the Indo-Pacific.

This includes investing in the National Police Academy in Samoa, or inviting Pacific nations to participate in its meteorological satellite system, a move that could grant the communist regime the power to conduct mass surveillance and collection of Pacific residents’ biodata.

One of the most recent examples is Solomon Islands’ controversial security pact with the CCP, which would open doors for Chinese police to operate in the country, raising concerns that it would lead to the establishment of a Chinese military base in the region.

PNG, which is less than 3,000 kilometres from Australia’s border, has also been a target.

In October, Mr. Marape shook hands with Mr. Xi at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in China.

The PNG government is the first Pacific government to sign a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure program, which is known as the CCP’s means to extend its global economic and diplomatic reach. The communist regime has also funded multiple projects in the PNG, including ports, an airport and an academy.

This is despite Australia being PNG’s largest trade partner, having spent a yearly average of more than US$450 million to assist development in the Pacific island, which was almost four times that of Beijing.

PNG also participated in the CCP’s meeting on police cooperation in 2022, although the Pacific nation’s military training aid traditionally came from Western powers, namely Australia, New Zealand and the U.S..

Question Over Bougainville

Mr. Albanese decided to remain neutral when facing a question over the issue of Bougainville, a part of PNG that could potentially become an independent state following an overwhelming vote of 97.7 percent in the 2019 referendum.

“I respect PNG’s sovereignty and those issues are a matter for Papua New Guinea,” the Australian PM said.

The Chinese regime has been trying to make inroads in Bougainville, having offered AU$1.47 billion (US$1 billion) worth of infrastructure.

In 2019, Bougainville Revolutionary Army general Sam Kauona revealed that the CCP had a master plan for Bougainville, including building bridges, a port, a highway and an airport among other facilities.

“This is the first holistic offer, which has come from China,” Mr. Kauona said at the time. “Where is Australia and the US and Japan?”

Mr. Marape confirmed that “the ratification process will take precedence.”