Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanes. (Source: Reuters)

Reuters news agency quoted the above statement of the Australian Prime Minister emphasizing: "We are the security partner of choice for Papua New Guinea as well as most countries in the Pacific."

The statement was made by Mr Albanese a day after PNG, the largest Pacific island nation, admitted that China was seeking a security agreement.

PNG Foreign Minister Justin Tkachenko said on January 29 that China - PNG's major trading partner - approached Port Moresby in September 2023 with an offer to support the Pacific island nation's police force with training, equipment and surveillance technology.

According to him, the negotiation process is at an early stage and PNG will not jeopardize its security relations with Australia and the United States, noting that, at this stage, PNG is only cooperating with China in the economic and trade fields.

Affirming that it has not agreed with Beijing, the Pacific island nation's diplomat said PNG would assess whether China's offer was similar to the security and policy support that Australia and the US have offered.

China has not commented on the issue, but its ambassador to Australia previously said Beijing has a strategy to support Pacific island nations in terms of security, not defense, and that the Northeast Asian nation's growing presence in the region will not cause Australia concern.

PNG signed a A$200 million ($132 million) security deal with Australia in December 2023 to boost police training, following a defence agreement with the United States in May 2023, although both deals have yet to be implemented.