PNG – no gun required in mission to thwart China

GARY TORRES | San   Juan Record

I WAS MORE THAN A LITTLE SURPRISED when I picked up the phone one morning and it was the United States State Department.

Just like in the 1994 movie True Lies with Swhwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis, my mission, if
accepted, was to go to a foreign country and wreak havoc, which I am usually pretty good at.

“Howdy folks. I am here to help, you can trust me, and I am from the government.”

Specifically, I was headed to Papua New Guinea to help them develop their natural resources using the American ideas of “productive harmony” and “multiple use and sustained yield”.

This might help America secure a positive presence before China comes in and buys everything up and “helps” them out of all their natural resources and leaves nothing but a big hole in the ground.

I asked if got to carry a gun; they didn’t think it was a good idea.

There are interesting things going on in PNG. From a natural resources point of view, they are sitting on a mountain of gold floating on an ocean of oil encased by a beautiful landscape that varies from sandy beaches to snow-capped mountains.

They are diverse people, speaking more than 800 languages. Eighty percent live in remote areas in isolated villages and work the land for their basic subsistence.

Their land produces palm oil, coffee, and liquefied natural gas but doesn’t have the infrastructure in place, such as roads and pipelines. You can’t drive from one coast to the other as there are no roads.

So after a 25-hour flight, I am in PNG as part of the International Technology Assistance Program.

The first thing we do upon arriving is go through customs. The US Embassy provides us with driver, who doubles as our guard.  

We are picked up at the airport and transported to our hotel, which is also surrounded by an eight foot high security fence with guards at every entrance. They slide the gate open and allow us in.

The country is rich in natural resources, but the poverty is extreme and although PNG is not on the “do not visit” list from the State Department, our security briefing chief assures us that we can go nowhere without our guard.

He emphasizes that most people that do get assaulted are not robbed at gun point, but rather by a machete-yielding native.

Over the course of three days, I appear to be like any other mild mannered bureaucrat and will give six lectures; but at night I am out there fighting for “truth, justice, and the American way.”

Somehow in my short stay, I was able to get my name in the national newspaper and was interviewed for the evening news.

And my too kind and loving wife thinks that I am just another slow moving federal paper pusher.

There will probably be a movie out soon, True Lies II. Brad Pitt or Antonio Banderas should play me, they seem like the closest resemblance; right?

Comments

[Bernard Yegiora]

My theory is that from Darwin the US will create a zone of influence in the southern part of PNG which includes it's prized investment the LNG project.

While the Chinese will take the northern half because of the Ramu Nico Mine.

Also the largest deposit of oil and gas is situated in the northern part.

At the moment the Chinese have knowledge that the deposit is there under their noses so they are keeping a close eye.

[Alex Harris]

Harry, PNG is highly prospective for new discoveries, and exploration licence applications have been rapidly increasing.

According to the PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum, there are currently 71 Petroleum Prospecting Licenses and 15 applications pending. See http://pngchamberminpet.com.pg/petroleum-in-png/

See also the back of the MRA bulletin for all resources license applications, licenses granted and renewed in the six months to end of 2011 http://www.mra.gov.pg/Portals/2/Publications/Bulletin/julydec2011/July-Dec%202011%20Bulletin.pdf.

Don't forget the remarkably frank (and perceived by the Chinese as aggressive) comments by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton with regard to the competition from China for resources in PNG - specifically oil and gas.

I'm sure this has nothing to do with a growing US military presence in Darwin. Or Exxon's decision to hire private military firm 4GS (think Sandline, Executive Outcomes, etc) to provide security to its project in PNG.

A foreign mili­tia company operating in PNG is not there to befriend the natives - it is there to protect Exxon's interests - and militia companies have a certain reputation for achieving their client objectives, regardless of the collateral damage.

Don't look to Australia for solace. Our resources companies are falling over themselves to partner with the Chinese, with some arguably intent on operating as fronts for Chinese business interests.

Couple that with the fact that most Chinese companies already in and coming to PNG are government owned, and not without their own security personnel - we have a recipe for 'interesting times' ahead in the land of the unexpected.

[Harry Topham]

Bernard wrote "China has discovered a much larger deposit of gas and oil, bigger then the LNG project in the Southern Highlands"
Some clarification please?

I was not aware that China had been carrying out exploration or drilling programs in the Highlands or other parts of PNG.

I also was lead to believe that most of the exploration licenses issued by the government were done many years ago and covered most of the areas showing oil/gas potential.

Is this a recent event or have the Chinese merely bought licenses from the main players?

Is so they would want to be careful as their dreams may turn out to be nothing more than salted deposits.

[Bernard Yegiora]

I doubt Australia will be a good neighbour and help PNG by protecting it from the US and China.

Australia as we all know is America's deputy sheriff in the Pacific.

So who will PNG trust and run to for help and honest advice? Definitely not Australia.

Who will be our best ally in this war for resources?

Can a minnow like PNG stand up against these giants?

[Bernard Yegiora]

China has discovered a much larger deposit of gas and oil, bigger then the LNG project in the Southern Highlands.

This new discovery will intensify the competition for natural resources. We might end up having different zones of influence where America will control one particular region and China the other.

So where does Australia fit in?