This is a great achievement for our country and a little bit of respect towards our citizens after what happened when Mr. Biden labeled us as cannibals.
Even though the president has not issued an official apology to date, this improvement in the regulation of visa is a significant upgrade in their foreign policy position towards us.
I think they have now realized how a bad and ruptured relation with PNG would be like for them in their quest for geopolitical hegemony in the region.
The good president's unwise action towards the most strategic country in the Indo-Pacific would do more harm than good; and the potential ripple effect it would have caused in its brand name as a champion advocate for acceptance, tolerance, peace, and democracy; and its leadership as the number one world supper power.
The PNG government must now put its feet down and try to reconsider its own foreign policy assertion towards the US and the West.
This situation, on the other hand, is good for PNG. It creates a leverage for us when it comes to negotiation.
We have the bargaining power due to that infamous "Biden slur." The US Embasy here in Port Moresby has not wasted time. The protest would paint a very negative picture of the US in the greater Pacific, and it would be very catastrophic for the West.
It is clearly inferred here from their press release being circulated and posted on their website that they wanted to make up for what Biden has done to our country.
They indirectly acknowledged it even though they can not issue an apology on behalf of their president.
In that way, they wanted to dilute the tension that was already brewing up here in the streets of Port Moresby for a possible protest.
The PM should be advised that he ought to know he's in an advantageous position to ask the US and the West to do something more than they have done to us.
O'Neill failed the Manus Asylum deal in 2013 because he didn't get anything tangible in return for PNG.
Australia was at a very disadvantaged position due to internal political pressure from Australian citizens to vote out the government had they not kept the refugees out of Australian shores.
So, the Australian government was forced to resettle the boat people in a third-party country, defying the wish of the refugees to resettle in Australia.
If the PM was then properly advised, he would have bargained for something more since Australia had no option.
He would ask to seal the Highlands Highway from Lae City all the way to Kopiago in Hela Province, for instance.
May be he got a personal handshake under the table, we don't know.
But if it was because of ill-advice, it is definitely a win for PMJM now if he could negotiate for the same infrastructure development of Highlands Highway.
It is a sad scenario that we do not get the end of our bargain when we are on the diplomatic negotiation table. We have given them way too much leeway.
The US defense pact given on a golden platter without asking them in return something tangible is a big concern, for example.
They have now realized their flaws, particularly when our citizens threatened for a protest. Do you know what that would trigger for the Pacific? It would have been catastrophic.
It's an insult to all our black people. It's very degrading coming from the world's powerful leader. Our fellow Pacific Island people would certainly buy into it. They aren't happy at the moment, and they sympathize with us.
It's one of those mistakes a living president would have done without properly giving himslelf much thought on the values the powerful country was built upon in the first place, so to speak.
No comments:
Post a Comment