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Papua New Guinea, Micronesia to Sign Agreement With U.S. as Pacific Island Countries Increasingly Take Sides in Great Power Rivalry

by Eric Olander
U.S. Secretary of States Antony Blinken holds a bilateral meeting with Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape during the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation at APEC Haus in Port Moresby on May 22, 2023. ADEK BERRY / AFP

Pacific Island Countries (PIC) are the current focal point in the escalating competition for influence between the United States and China around the world.

Both Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Micronesia signed defense agreements with the United States on Monday during a brief visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

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