U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Papua New Guinea (PNG) in lieu of President Joe Biden, whose trip was canceled due to the United States debt limit talks, next week amid efforts to counter China’s rising influence in the Pacific.
Biden contacted PNG leader James Marape on May 18 to inform him that he had to return to Washington after the G7 summit in Japan to attend meetings with Congressional leaders on averting a potential default, the White House stated.
He told Marape that Blinken would attend the U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum summit in PNG’s capital Port Moresby on his behalf and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the renewed partnership with Pacific island nations….