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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Politics
Randy Mulyanto

Why are world leaders racing to the Pacific Islands?

Narendra Modi India Pacific Island China the Pacific Islands United States South Korea Antony Blinken James Marape Papua New Guinea
[Al Jazeera/Nataliia Shulga]

Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Prime Minister James Marape is a busy host. Once a sleepy town, Port Moresby, the country’s capital, is now a buzzing diplomatic destination with VIP planes queueing up to land at its airport.

China’s recently reappointed Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited in June 2022, at the end of a trip to eight Pacific Island nations, while the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed this May. And US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin visited in the last week of July.

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