© Thomson Reuters
By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's cancelled visit to Papua New Guinea, which had declared next Monday a public holiday in honour of his arrival, has dealt a blow to U.S. credibility in the Pacific island region, analysts said on Wednesday.
Biden's planned visit to a nation of 9 million just north of Australia had been viewed as a major step to build trust in a region where China has sought a greater security presence.
An unfolding crisis over the U.S. debt ceiling prompted Biden to postpone plans to visit Papua New Guinea and Australia, cutting short an upcoming Asia trip so he can return to Washington.
"For Papua New Guinea this was a very big deal and they will be disappointed," said Mihai Sora, a Pacific islands analyst with the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney.
The cancellation was also a "blow to U.S. credibility in the region as a consistent partner", he added.
"Up until now Pacific islands leaders have been giving the U.S. the benefit of the doubt over its ability to re-engage."
By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's cancelled visit to Papua New Guinea, which had declared next Monday a public holiday in honour of his arrival, has dealt a blow to U.S. credibility in the Pacific island region, analysts said on Wednesday.
Biden's planned visit to a nation of 9 million just north of Australia had been viewed as a major step to build trust in a region where China has sought a greater security presence.
An unfolding crisis over the U.S. debt ceiling prompted Biden to postpone plans to visit Papua New Guinea and Australia, cutting short an upcoming Asia trip so he can return to Washington.
"For Papua New Guinea this was a very big deal and they will be disappointed," said Mihai Sora, a Pacific islands analyst with the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney.
The cancellation was also a "blow to U.S. credibility in the region as a consistent partner", he added.
"Up until now Pacific islands leaders have been giving the U.S. the benefit of the doubt over its ability to re-engage."
Related video: Biden scraps visit to Papua New Guinea, Australia (The Associated Press)Duration 1:09 View on Watch
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape told a radio audience a day earlier that his government was preparing to sign a major defence pact with the United States and a security agreement allowing U.S. Coast Guard vessels to patrol it waters. He made no public comment about Biden's cancellation.
Some Opposition party politicians had criticised the pact as potentially upsetting China, a major infrastructure donor.
Biden had also been scheduled to meet 18 Pacific island leaders in the three-hour visit to the PNG capital Port Moresby.
Asia Society Policy Institute senior fellow Richard Maude said the cancellation of what would have been the first visit by an American president to an independent Pacific islands nation could be a setback for relations.
"The mantra in the region is all about turning up. Turning up is half the battle. China turns up all the time, and so the optics aren't great," Maude, a former Australian intelligence chief, said on Wednesday.
The visit also had a personal dimension for Biden. Two of his uncles were based in PNG in World War Two as airmen, including one who died in a plane crash in 1944, Biden recalled in 2016.
The Pacific islands span 40 million square km of ocean, where vital sea lanes and submarine cables link the United States to its allies Australia and Japan. But leaders there had complained to the U.S. of being seen as "fly over" countries.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited the region three times, including a 2018 visit to PNG.
Beijing last year struck a security pact with the Solomon Islands, where a Chinese state company will rebuild the international port. China has continued to lobby for a bigger role in the region, after failing to sign 10 nations to a security and trade deal.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Pacific island leaders in Port Moresby on Monday, and New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said he will also travel to PNG.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; additional reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington; editing by Nick Macfie)
Disappointment in Papua New Guinea after Biden cancels first visit by a US leader
After six months of preparation in Port Moresby, the President cut short his trip in order to focus on debt limit talks in Washington
Rebecca Kuku in Port Moresby
After six months of preparation in Port Moresby, the President cut short his trip in order to focus on debt limit talks in Washington
Rebecca Kuku in Port Moresby
Wed 17 May 2023
Papua New Guineans have reacted with disappointment to the news that US president, Joe Biden, has cancelled his visit to the capital, Port Moresby, in order to focus on debt limit talks in Washington.
Preparations for the visit – the first by a sitting US president – began six months ago and included a plan to shut down the country’s airspace as well as to designate next Monday a public holiday to allow residents of Port Moresby to catch a glimpse of the president. Roads were set to be closed and students and cultural dancing groups were planning to line the path of Biden’s motorcade.
On Tuesday, before the news of the cancellation broke, the front page of the Post-Courier newspaper featured a full page story on Biden’s security arriving ahead of the visit.
What is the US debt ceiling and what happens if it isn’t raised?
“We are disappointed that this historic visit has been cancelled as we have prepared well, spent a lot of time, effort and energy towards the visit and we were all looking forward to the visit,” said Powes Parkop, the governor of the National Capital District.
Biden had confirmed that he would visit PNG for three hours on Monday, after attending the G7 meeting in Japan, but cancelled on Tuesday evening in order to be in Washington to meet with congressional leaders to avert a debt default.
Biden was also set to travel to Sydney to attend a meeting with the leaders of Australia, Japan and India after his visit to PNG. Australia’s prime minister confirmed on Wednesday that the Quad meeting would be postponed as well.
“We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year,” the White House said in a statement.
Prime minister James Marape could not be reached for comment, but opposition leader Joseph Lelang said that “many citizens who wanted to catch a glimpse of … Biden would be disappointed”.
“But we do understand that there are domestic issues back in the United States that needed his attention,” he said
Lelang added that the cancellation of the trip would give the prime minister the opportunity to outline the details of a proposed defence treaty with the US.
“Information on the contents of the Defense Cooperation Treaty with the United States [is] sketchy,” said Lelang.
This week Marape confirmed that two security agreements would be signed with the US, on defence cooperation and maritime surveillance, during Biden’s visit. Marape had said his government would provide details on the security agreements on Thursday.
Opposition groups had raised concerns that PNG would be stuck between and increasingly hostile US and China, if the country signed a security treaty with the US.
“We have a foreign policy of ‘Friends to All and Enemies to None’. We … should not be blinded by the dollar sign or be coerced into signing deals that may be detrimental to us, in the long run,” Lelang said.
Despite the cancellation of Biden’s visit, operations to provide security for the five presidents and ten prime ministers – including Indian prime minister Narendra Modi – who will be in the country to attend the Forum for the India-Pacific in Port Moresby next Monday will remain in place, according to internal security minister Peter Tsiamalili.
“The airport closure only applied for the US president Biden’s visit, so only that will not be applicable, but we will continue to maintain [security] operations for the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pacific Leaders,” Tsiamalili said.
Meanwhile, Institute of National Affairs (INA) executive director, Paul Barker, said that the cancellation of the visit by Biden “may not be a bad thing for PNG.
“He will still send a senior representative, but it was always going to be a bit of a rushed visit,” Barker said.
“Preparing for a less rushed visit by the President at a later date, but still before the next US election period rolls out, will enable him to have a more meaningful visit with wider local engagement.”
Asia Society Policy Institute senior fellow Richard Maude said the cancellation of Biden’s visit to Papua New Guinea could set back Washington’s battle for influence with Beijing in the region.
“The mantra in the region is all about turning up. Turning up is half the battle. China turns up all the time, and so the optics aren’t great,” Maude, a former Australian intelligence chief, told a panel discussion on the Quad on Wednesday.
Papua New Guineans have reacted with disappointment to the news that US president, Joe Biden, has cancelled his visit to the capital, Port Moresby, in order to focus on debt limit talks in Washington.
Preparations for the visit – the first by a sitting US president – began six months ago and included a plan to shut down the country’s airspace as well as to designate next Monday a public holiday to allow residents of Port Moresby to catch a glimpse of the president. Roads were set to be closed and students and cultural dancing groups were planning to line the path of Biden’s motorcade.
On Tuesday, before the news of the cancellation broke, the front page of the Post-Courier newspaper featured a full page story on Biden’s security arriving ahead of the visit.
What is the US debt ceiling and what happens if it isn’t raised?
“We are disappointed that this historic visit has been cancelled as we have prepared well, spent a lot of time, effort and energy towards the visit and we were all looking forward to the visit,” said Powes Parkop, the governor of the National Capital District.
Biden had confirmed that he would visit PNG for three hours on Monday, after attending the G7 meeting in Japan, but cancelled on Tuesday evening in order to be in Washington to meet with congressional leaders to avert a debt default.
Biden was also set to travel to Sydney to attend a meeting with the leaders of Australia, Japan and India after his visit to PNG. Australia’s prime minister confirmed on Wednesday that the Quad meeting would be postponed as well.
“We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year,” the White House said in a statement.
Prime minister James Marape could not be reached for comment, but opposition leader Joseph Lelang said that “many citizens who wanted to catch a glimpse of … Biden would be disappointed”.
“But we do understand that there are domestic issues back in the United States that needed his attention,” he said
Lelang added that the cancellation of the trip would give the prime minister the opportunity to outline the details of a proposed defence treaty with the US.
“Information on the contents of the Defense Cooperation Treaty with the United States [is] sketchy,” said Lelang.
This week Marape confirmed that two security agreements would be signed with the US, on defence cooperation and maritime surveillance, during Biden’s visit. Marape had said his government would provide details on the security agreements on Thursday.
Opposition groups had raised concerns that PNG would be stuck between and increasingly hostile US and China, if the country signed a security treaty with the US.
“We have a foreign policy of ‘Friends to All and Enemies to None’. We … should not be blinded by the dollar sign or be coerced into signing deals that may be detrimental to us, in the long run,” Lelang said.
Despite the cancellation of Biden’s visit, operations to provide security for the five presidents and ten prime ministers – including Indian prime minister Narendra Modi – who will be in the country to attend the Forum for the India-Pacific in Port Moresby next Monday will remain in place, according to internal security minister Peter Tsiamalili.
“The airport closure only applied for the US president Biden’s visit, so only that will not be applicable, but we will continue to maintain [security] operations for the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pacific Leaders,” Tsiamalili said.
Meanwhile, Institute of National Affairs (INA) executive director, Paul Barker, said that the cancellation of the visit by Biden “may not be a bad thing for PNG.
“He will still send a senior representative, but it was always going to be a bit of a rushed visit,” Barker said.
“Preparing for a less rushed visit by the President at a later date, but still before the next US election period rolls out, will enable him to have a more meaningful visit with wider local engagement.”
Asia Society Policy Institute senior fellow Richard Maude said the cancellation of Biden’s visit to Papua New Guinea could set back Washington’s battle for influence with Beijing in the region.
“The mantra in the region is all about turning up. Turning up is half the battle. China turns up all the time, and so the optics aren’t great,” Maude, a former Australian intelligence chief, told a panel discussion on the Quad on Wednesday.
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