PORT MORESBY -- A U.S. Coast Guard cutter will be deployed to Papua New Guinea to help the island nation monitor illegal fishing and trafficking in August, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Thursday, amid competition with China over influence in the South Pacific.
Austin's visit is the first by a sitting U.S. secretary of defense to the country. His historic trip comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed a shiprider agreement for closer maritime law enforcement cooperation and a defense cooperation agreement in May.
