Next week Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III is scheduled to travel to Papua New Guinea to visit with Prime Minister Marape and Minister of Defense Win Bakri Daki before traveling onward to Australia to meet with military officials.
The announcement comes soon after the signing of the U.S.-Papua New Guinea Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) which "modernizes" the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the United States and Papua New Guinea. The agreement will now have to go before the local government for ratification.
Asia's leading newspaper, Nikkei, received the text of the agreement which they report as giving the United States military access to numerous locations, including the airport and ports within Papua New Guinea for 15 years, with the option to extend the agreement if both countries have no objections.
Nikkei reports that the U.S. military could use these bases for rescue and humanitarian missions, as well as "contingency operations." Papua New Guinea would be strategically located in the event of a conflict with China in the South China Sea or over Taiwan.
Reach Jack Murphy: jack@connectingvets.com or @JackMurphyRGR.
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