MELBOURNE, Australia — A tribal clash in Papua New Guinea’s remote highlands in which at least 26 people were killed has put a growing internal security problem under the microscope in the strategically vital South Pacific island nation that has garnered closer military attention from the United States and China. Here’s a look at some key issues surrounding Papua New …
A humanitarian program in Papua New Guinea looking after former detainees of Manus Island is in crisis, with the potential to see about 60 refugees and asylum seekers without a home as soon as Thursday. Australia's Home Affairs department said it paid a substantial sum to PNG to take over “full and independent management” of the living arrangements under a …
It’s not just the US and China. China’s recently reappointed Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited in June 2022, at the end of a trip to eight Pacific Island nations, while the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed this May. A decades-long conflict between Indonesia’s military and separatist rebels in Papua, a province that borders Papua New Guinea, has …
Blinken says defence and maritime surveillance pact was signed by both countries ‘as equals and sovereign partners’. The United States has signed a defence and maritime surveillance agreement with Papua New Guinea during a visit by the top US diplomat as Washington aims to counter China’s influence in the Pacific region. “The defence cooperation was drafted by the United States …
There are holes in Papua New Guinea's COVID-19 quarantine systems, and "critical functions" at its pandemic control centre are "at risk of collapsing" because some staff haven't been paid, leaked documents reveal. An internal ministerial briefing written last week, and obtained by the ABC, shows about 40 temporary staff performing "critical functions" at PNG's National Control Centre for COVID-19 have …
