US-PNG security pact critical to counter China’s influence in the region: Grant Newsham

The United States signed a defense cooperation pact with Papua New Guinea (PNG). This comes as the United States and China are both vying for influence in the region. Alliances in the Indo-Pacific will affect the balance of power there as Beijing shows itself to be belligerent in the region.

Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine Colonel and senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy, tells NTD that U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific region are critical as China has “slipped itself in” over the last three decades and had a lot of success influencing several countries there.