Papua New Guinea is in talks with China on a potential security and policing deal. The talks come after weeks of deadly riots in the South Pacific Islands nation.
Earlier, Papua New Guinea (PNG) has said that Australia and the United States were its security partners, while China an important economic partner. PNG had said it would not do anything to jeopardise its relations with Australia and the US.
In an interview with Reuters, Foreign Minister Justin Tkachenko confirmed that PNG is in talks with China over security. "We deal with China at this stage only at economic and trade level. They are one of our biggest trading partners, but they have offered to assist our policing and security on the internal security side," Tkachenko said.
Earlier, China had approached PNG with an offer to assist its police force with training, equipment and surveillance technology, he added.
Meanwhile, Tkachenko also added that the negotiations are only in the early stages.
In a press conference, China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin had said, "China's good friend and good partner" in the Pacific Islands. "China is willing to continue to work with Papua New Guinea to continue to promote cooperation in relevant fields, deepen and promote common development," he added.
The riots in the PNG capital Port Moresby had left 16 people dead. Several stores were set on fire and looted amid chaos.
During the brutal riots, China's embassy flagged concerns to PNG over the safety risk to Chinese citizens living in Port Moresby. Also, PNG had struck a Defence Cooperation Agreement with the US during a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in May, giving the US military access to PNG ports and airports.
