Be careful with foreign influence

PAPUA New Guinea is strategically located at Indo-Pacific region bordering the Asian and Western nations.
Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Japan are the most powerful Asian countries that PNG has bilateral and geographical ties with.
PNG has bilateral ties and shared borders with Australia, New Zealand and United States, which are Western nations.
The West is currently at the verge of controlling the world’s politics, economic and military affairs.
Asian countries are doing the same as well.
PNG is caught in between the radar of Asian and Western superpowers.
The territorial dominance from either Asian or Western countries in PNG will pose cybersecurity, economic, biosecurity and military threats.
The Government needs to take stock of this and design a pathway to address going forward.
It needs to consider the pros and cons of the every development assistance the country is getting from other countries.
Countries that assist PNG have hidden motives.
We are vulnerable.
We can easily be manipulated by other countries if we are not smart.
PNG cannot serve the West and Asian superpowers’ interests at the same time .
We will not be safe if we open our doors to them without properly scrutinising their motives.
Therefore, the Government needs to tighten up the borders and foreign policy.
PNG needs to issue visa to genuine investors and volunteers.
We should not allow ourselves to be controlled by other nations.
This is something we have to be careful about.
The Government needs to be proactive in ensuring that we do not compromise our security.

Gibson Mai,
Ialibu-Pangia