[Sydney, 26th Archyde.com]— US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Kritenblink, said on the 26th that the United States intends to strengthen security cooperation with Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific. The United States is on the alert for a security agreement recently signed by neighboring Solomon Islands and China.
The US delegation visited the Pacific island nations of Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands last week.
Kritenbrink said in a telephone conference that the US delegation had met with Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Malape and plans to discuss security cooperation within a few months. He said he had a desire to strengthen security cooperation on both sides.
He pointed out that the security agreement signed by China and Solomon was “not fully scrutinized and completely unclear.” He said these concerns also existed among the people of neighboring countries and the Solomon Islands.