Papua New Guinea: Taking a Ferocious Turn Against China!

Hello everyone and welcome to Geopolitical Trends. My name is David Oualaalou. So good to be with you as always. To encircle China, looks like Washington has reached an agreement with Papua New Guinea. How will this now shape the geopolitical landscape in that part of the world? How will China react? Could this further sort of strain relations between the US and China. In this video, I'm going to provide you my assessments about this while highlighting to you that US moves are being seen as a provocation. But before I'll do this, I'd like to extend my thanks to the members and supporters. And for you, if this is your first time landing on this channel, please make sure to subscribe and smash that notification button so you will be notified every time I upload a new video or do a livestream session. Let's dive in into this. The US military— get this, guys— the US military can now develop and operate military bases in Papua New Guinea under a landmark security deal. That is part of Washington's effort to encircle China in the Pacific. Yeah, now makes you just wonder, well, the relationship between the two countries, China and the US for that matter, I don't see how they can recover anyway. So, so the full text of the deal, which by the way was kept a secret This is the thing. For a while, was presented to Papua New Guinea's Parliament recently, and now allowing its details to be revealed and made public. That's what prompted me to go ahead as soon as it came across my desk. I kind of like, uh-uh, my viewers in the community, the whole community for that matter, needs to be aware of this development here. So with the new Papua New Guinea's consent now, it's with their consent in the Southwest Pacific, the United States will be now able to deploy troops and ships at major airports as well as sites such as the Lombrum Naval Base on Manus Island and a seaport in the capital Port or Moz Bay or Moz Bay. Interesting. So, and here's the thing that I want you to know about this agreement. This agreement provides for Washington to be given, and I will put this in quotes because it's very important, unhindered access, in quote, unhindered access to sites for pre-storage of equipment supplies and materials. And of course, don't forget that this agreement gives Washington the right to exclusive use— and I put this in quotes— of certain sectors at bases that could see construction activities. This is no different than what's taking place in the Philippines as we speak. So the agreements, of course, opened the door for Washington to establish a new military presence in the Western Pacific at a time of growing rivalry with China. We all see where this is going, and this is why I always say put things in perspective. For NATO, for example, to go and open an office in Japan, okay, for Philippines to grant access to the US for 4 more bases. All this dynamics with the secret training of the US in Taiwan, training Taiwanese secretly there. So all this, you put it within the context of what is happening. So access to the Lambram base could be used to reinforce US facilities in Guam, in the north which could be key in the event of disputes over Taiwan. Well, we all know, you don't have to be geopolitical analyst to realize that all this is geared towards Taiwan issue. So interestingly is that the Prime Minister James Marape was forced to defend— get these guys— was forced to defend the deal in the face of a wave of protests accusing the authorities in Papua New Guinea of abandoning the country's sovereignty. This is a reflection of what's going on in Australia, don't you think? Because you ask people now, you know, about whether Australia has a sovereignty or not, they'll tell you no. Same thing in Germany. And he said, well, now, and I put this in quote, we have let our army weaken in the last 48 years. Marapei told Parliament recently, stressing that sovereignty is determined by the solidity and strength of the army. Well, that's kind of to justify because the agreements now is a foregone sort of— it's moved forward. That's the reason why he said what he said. But here is the thing, because you're going to ask yourself Why Papua New Guinea? Why not somewhere else? Well, it's a resource-rich location and close to major shipping routes, which has become a key focus of the diplomatic standoff between Washington and Beijing. As I always say, for Beijing, it's gonna have to be care— be aware of the sea routes because those are choking points especially, especially the Malacca Strait. So former Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said the agreement— this is like the opposite side of the argument— Peter O'Neill said that the agreement made Papua New Guinea a target. And again, I compare it to Australia. Australia now became a target. Philippines is becoming a target. South Korea became a target. Japan became a target. So, and he said, and I quote, America is doing this to protect its own national interests, and we all understand the geopolitical that is happening within our region, end of quote. I mean, he hit the nail on the head. He's referring to the dynamics that's taking place in that part of the world. From now the presence of NATO soon is going to be in Japan, to the expansion of the US military bases in Philippines, to now the agreement of South Korea to allow the presence of a nuclear submarine, American nuclear submarine, to of course the AUKUS with the presence— or not the presence, but the purchase of Australia of the US nuclear submarines. All these dynamics, and even the sale of weapons to Taiwan, All this sort of, uh, uh, it's a reference to what Peter O'Neill was talking about. President Biden, interesting enough, President Biden was scheduled to visit Papua New Guinea. Yeah, but the visit was canceled. And at the time, they're saying it was canceled because there was disagreements regarding the budget in Congress. No, no, no, no, no, it's because there is no need for the president to go. 'Cause remember, optics matters. So, most likely the decision was made to the last minute. No, no, they agreed, they, Papua New Guinea, agreed to the deal. You don't need to go. Washington has been, make no mistake, Washington has been trying to woo Pacific countries with a range of diplomatic and financial incentives in exchange for strategic support after being— after Beijing made similar moves. So it's basically to counter what China has done before. But I see this vividly in Philippines. What makes Marcos Jr. all of a sudden flip? Because you all remember when he was campaigning that I'm gonna fight for the Filipino people and the sovereignty of Philippines. Turns out to be a weak leader, another weak leader. So, and all this was a reaction— all the deal for Papua New Guinea, of course, came into reaction to— was a reaction to the Chinese companies who have flocked to mines and ports across the Pacific. And last year, by the way, China signed a deal, an agreement with the neighboring Solomon Islands that allows it to deploy troops to the country. So, well, if the US can do it, why not China? So, so funny how we kind of— if they do it, it's wrong, but if we do it, it's right. That just doesn't make sense. So the United States, of course, argument says that it fears a Chinese military foothold in the South Pacific that could encircle its facilities in Guam and make defending Taiwan more complicated if it is invaded by China. It's ludicrous. You know why? It's because Chinese will be thinking the same. Why is the United States encircling China? So what makes, again, what makes China or any country for that matter, whatever they do is wrong? And what we do is right. So that's what I found very fascinating about all this, because it's a hypocrisy saying one thing and doing another. And this is again what prompts me to bring this to your attention, because you need to be aware of this issue. And as I always say, if you like me to expand further on this, leave me some comments and I will be happy to do it in a live stream. So By the way, if you like the content of this video, please hit that like button and subscribe. I would really appreciate it. As always, guys, hope you find this very insightful and informative. And as I always say, remember, geopolitics impacts your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, guys, bye-bye.