Justin Tkachenko says they are in ‘early stages of negotiation’ with Beijing on its offer to assist with police and security

Papua New Guinea is in early talks with China on a potential security and policing deal, the country’s foreign minister Justin Tkachenko has said, weeks after deadly riots in the country’s capital.

Amid jostling between Washington and Beijing for influence in the Pacific, the biggest Pacific Islands nation, Papua New Guinea (PNG), has previously said Australia and the United States are its security partners, while China is an important economic partner.

China approached PNG in September with an offer to assist its police force with training, equipment and surveillance technology, Tkachenko told Reuters on Monday. Talks continued last week.

“We deal with China at this stage only at economic and trade level. They are one of our biggest trading partners, but they have offered to assist our policing and security on the internal security side,” Tkachenko said.

PNG will assess if the Chinese offer duplicates security and policing assistance already being offered by Australia and the United States, he said.