Biden traveling to Papua New Guinea as administration courts allies against China
Christian Datoc
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President Joe Biden will travel to Papua New Guinea this month amid escalating tension with China.
The visit, the first by a sitting U.S. president, comes as the administration seeks to lobby regional support in the South Pacific and will follow Biden’s attendance at the G-7 leaders summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
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Biden hosted Presidents Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines at the White House in recent weeks with a heavy focus on maintaining the current status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
“President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will make an historic stop in Papua New Guinea while traveling from the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima, Japan to the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Sydney, Australia later this month.
“While in Papua New Guinea, President Biden will meet with Prime Minister Marape of Papua New Guinea and other Pacific Island Forum leaders to follow up on the first-ever U.S.–Pacific Island Summit in Washington, DC last fall,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement Tuesday morning. “The leaders will discuss ways to deepen cooperation on challenges critical to the region and to the United States such as combating climate change, protecting maritime resources, and advancing resilient and inclusive economic growth.”
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Jean-Pierre claimed that “as a Pacific nation, the United States has deep historical and people-to-people ties with the Pacific Islands, and this visit — the first time a sitting U.S. President has visited a Pacific Island country — further reinforces this critical partnership.”
Biden will also travel to Sydney, Australia, following the Hiroshima Summit for the Quad Leaders’ Summit, where the leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S. will continue to discuss regional security in the South Pacific.