president Xi Jinping‘s official mouthpiece criticized the US for “Armament” of the Pacific Island States.

What happened: China’s Global Times Newspaperciting geopolitical experts, accused the US of attempting to build an anti-China front to cater to America’s adventurism.

An unnamed expert told the publication that allowing the US military in the region was like “opening a sheepfold to wolves.” It added that cooperation on peace, development and climate change are fairly important agendas for these island nations.

See also: Xi Jinping’s China wants to “improve” ties with Taiwan — but not in the usual way governments do

The developments came after Washington announced over the weekend that it had made “substantial progress” with Papua New Guinea Text of a defense cooperation agreement.

The US Department of State said negotiators from the department and PNG Ministry of Foreign Affairs held talks February 6-10 in Hawaii to strengthen security cooperation between the two countries.

Although the US made no mention of “China” in its statement, Global Times cited the Reuters report and wrote, “as an open secret,” that the negotiations took place amid “growing concerns.” on the Taiwan question and the disputes in the South China Sea.

The US has always hyped the “China threat” to develop an actual US deterrent, Chen Hongan Australian and PIC studies expert East China Normal University, the publication said. Chen added that the US is trying to mobilize countries and use them for logistics, military bases or cannon fodder.

The publication also noted that prior to announcing negotiations with PNG, the US had also signed an MoU with Micronesia.

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