Agreements signed last month between the United States and a southwestern Pacific nation will be a good counter to the Chinese Community Party (CCP), according to a Texas congressman.
"I welcome the announcement of the U.S. security pact with Papua New Guinea," U.S. House Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said in a May 23 Twitter post. "As the CCP is vying for influence in the Pacific Islands, this agreement strengthens regional security and stability while countering the CCP’s malign influence."
The Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) and the Agreement Concerning Counter Illicit Transnational Maritime Activity Operations were signed May 22 by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister James Marape, the State Department announced at the time.
Undated image of Papua New Guinea Defense Force during a Guard of Honor Parade at the nation's Jacksons International Airport
| ict.gov.pg/
The DCA is intended to promote bilateral and multilateral exercises, which in turn should enhance regional capacity building, according to the State Department's announcement. The DCA also allows the U.S. to respond to emergencies in the region, such as providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
The Counter Illicit Transnational Maritime Activity Operations Agreement targets maritime threats, such as drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and the transportation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), according the the DOS. The agreement supports 11 existing agreements in the Pacific Island region, the news release states, and "strengthens maritime governance and enforcement globally."
CNN reported the agreement "sparked controversy in the Pacific Island nation and comes as Washington and China jostle for influence in the region," and cited discontent over a lack of public disclosure of its full text by either party. Transparency concerns were raised, although draft versions have been leaked online.
The U.S.-PNG pact also raised concerns over possible "lines of alignment being drawn in a region that has long prioritized projecting strength through unity," CNN reports, particularly with the agreements coming so soon after the Solomon Islands signed a security pact with China last year
In its own announcement, Papua New Guinea said the agreements "will not offend" any of its laws.
"Papua New Guinea does not have enemies but it pays to be prepared," Papua New Guinea's Department of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) wrote in its May 20 statement on the agreements. "Territorial dispute is eminent, as in the case of Ukraine-Russia."
"This agreement is not about Geo politics but rather recognizes the country's need to build its Defence capabilities because border disputes are inevitable in the future," ICT stated in the news release. "U.S. has offered to do that."
The ICT wrote that in the past 15 years, the PNG has "has seen a serious erosion of its military under all agreements it has, till this day and the USA, the most modern military in the world, wants to come in a big way."
