On May 18, on Air Force One to Japan, US President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape to explain why he canceled his visit to this South Pacific island nation.
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| US President Joe Biden called the leader of Papua New Guinea while on Air Force One to Japan on May 18. (Source: AP) |
The White House statement said that during the phone call, President Biden shared that he could not visit Papua New Guinea to meet with Prime Minister Marape and leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) countries as planned.
The reason the leader gave was that he needed to return to Washington DC to meet with the head of Congress, to ensure that the legislative body takes timely action to avoid the risk of default for the country.
The White House boss emphasized the US commitment to the partnership with the Pacific island nations and said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will represent him at the meeting between Washington and PIF leaders in the capital Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea).
President Biden also extended an invitation to Prime Minister Marape and Pacific Island leaders to travel to Washington DC later this year to attend the second US-PIF Summit and continue discussions around enhancing cooperation in shared priority areas.
The areas the US wants to target include combating climate change, strengthening economic and trade relations, promoting maritime security, sustainable and inclusive development, and enhancing people-to-people exchanges.
For his part, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea said: "I was honored to receive Mr. Biden's call on my behalf. He conveyed his most sincere apologies that he could not come to Papua New Guinea."
According to the original plan, Mr. Biden will attend the G7 Summit in Hiroshima (Japan) for 3 days from May 19-21, then will travel to Australia and Papua New Guinea.
However, due to the debt ceiling issue, Mr. Biden had to return home immediately after the G7 Summit ended, which meant canceling his trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Some analysts say the US President's cancellation of his visit to Papua New Guinea is a heavy blow to US foreign policy in the region, affecting Washington's reputation in the Pacific island nations.
Also on May 18, according to information from Fijian officials, Pacific island leaders will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a high-level US delegation in Papua New Guinea on May 22 to negotiate "areas of cooperation and important challenges for all parties".
With the above information from President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken will be the leader of the US delegation attending the meeting.
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