New Zealand and Papua New Guinea signed a defence cooperation agreement late on Wednesday, deepening a security arrangement that will expand defence dialogue, training, military exercises and personnel exchanges across the Pacific. The Statement of Intent on Defence Cooperation for 2026-2029 was signed in Papua New Guinea by New Zealand Defence Minister Chris Penk and his Papua New Guinea counterpart Elias Kapavore, Penk's office said.
Who Gets Pulled Into the Security Net
The deal lands in a region where ordinary people keep getting folded into the calculations of bigger powers. Penk said in a statement, "In an increasingly volatile world, Pacific nations like ours are stronger when we work closely together." That line does the usual diplomatic work: it dresses up military coordination as safety, while the machinery underneath keeps humming.
The agreement adds to a quickening push by Australia, New Zealand and the United States to lock in Pacific security ties as China expands its diplomatic, policing and infrastructure footprint across the region. Washington signed a defence cooperation agreement with PNG in 2023 that gives U.S. forces easier access for training and infrastructure work. Australia has followed security deals with PNG and Vanuatu with a new mutual-defence pact with Fiji, branded the Ocean of Peace Alliance, that officials have said could open to other Pacific nations.
That’s the hierarchy in plain sight. The region gets treated like a chessboard, and the people living on it are expected to absorb the consequences of agreements made far above their heads.
The Great Power Carousel
The flurry of deals follows concern among Western-aligned governments that while Beijing was unable in 2022 to secure a region-wide pact with Pacific island nations, it has gained ground through policing and security ties, including with the Solomon Islands. PNG's recent move to close Taiwan's office in Port Moresby has further underscored the pressure on Pacific governments as they try to balance security support from traditional partners with economic ties to China.
That balancing act is not some noble diplomacy. It’s pressure from every side, with governments trying to keep access to money, weapons, and influence while the region gets carved up by competing state interests. The language changes. The domination doesn’t.
At a regional gathering in Manila led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi discussed a visit to the U.S. in September by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Rubio said he and Wang discussed at length the need to lay the groundwork for a "very positive visit" by Xi, and it was their job to manage the big differences between the two countries and ensure they did not get out of control.
Wang, on his part, demanded that the U.S. "respect China's core interests ... effectively manage differences and disagreements, and address China's legitimate concerns," according to an official Chinese summary, which called the meeting "pragmatic, positive, and constructive." Wang and Rubio agreed to "make sound preparations for the next stage of high-level exchanges," Wang's ministry said in a statement.
What They Call Stability
The broader ASEAN meeting in Manila came amid a flare-up in the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, and while tensions simmered between Beijing and close U.S. ally the Philippines over an incident in the South China Sea on Monday that led each to summon the other's ambassador. Meeting with foreign ministers of ASEAN, who expressed concerns about the Middle East war, Rubio put the blame squarely on Iran.
"The problem we're having right now is that they're not serious about talks," he said. "If they're serious, we're serious. If they're not, then we will do what's necessary to protect our interests, and also the interests of our allies."
He stressed that Iran could not be allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz, as it could set a dangerous precedent for other parts of the world.
Rubio's remarks followed his opinion piece in Philippine media on Tuesday that aimed at Beijing's conduct in the South China Sea, warning of "dire new threats" if those waters were to "fall under the control of a power willing to use commerce as a geopolitical weapon." Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea via a line on its maps that cuts into the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and is at the centre of long-running disputes over a multitude of islands and features.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Monday's altercation between China's coast guard and Philippine navy personnel in the South China Sea was risky and destabilising. "The countries of the region have a choice to make about how we all respond to that," Wong told reporters. China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Australia had no right to intervene in the South China Sea issue and urged relevant countries to stop stirring up tension and inciting confrontation.
The officials keep talking about choice, stability, and order. But the facts on the ground are a chain of defence pacts, military access, policing ties, and diplomatic pressure, all aimed at keeping states aligned and populations compliant. The people at the bottom don’t get to sign the agreements. They live with them.