U.S-China spat casts shadow over Asia-Pacific free trade drive

by Jason Scott, bloomberg.com
May 25, 2018 

APEC unsettled by uncertainty over potential for trade war
Australia’s Coulton says ‘giants in the room’ having issues

The U.S and China’s on-again, off-again trade dispute is casting a shadow over Asia-Pacific nations’ efforts to further open up global trade, a senior Australian government official said.

Delegates at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Port Moresby this weekend pledged to keep pursuing a free and fair international trading regime, in the face of rising protectionist sentiment. The Papua New Guinea capital in November will also host an Apec summit that will include Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, amid ongoing risks the US and China could unleash tit-for-tat tariffs.

“The two giants in the room are having issues,” Australia’s Assistant Trade Minister Mark Coulton said on the conference sidelines Saturday. Delegates are “certainly watching closely and are concerned because they don’t want to be caught up in the by-wash.”

Trump is on a mission to deliver on his election pledge to crack down on unfair trade practices by foreign countries. He proposed tariffs on up to $150 billion of Chinese imports, prompting preparations in Beijing to retaliate. While the U.S. appeared to step back from imposing the penalties earlier this week, the president’s changeable policy positions mean this hasn’t completely allayed market concerns.

Asian economies, which include many APEC members, would suffer more than China if Trump made good on his threats, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Economics. It estimates that for every 10 percent drop in China’s exports, growth in Asian economies would be cut by an average of 1.1 percentage points, while China’s would fall just 0.3 percentage point.

Far from Washington and Beijing, Port Moresby played host to representatives of the 21 APEC members, including U.S. Deputy Trade Representative Jeffery Gerrish and China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen. Talks between the pair have been “cordial and generally constructive,” Coulton said.

“They’ve been quite measured in their contributions,” Coulton said. “They’ve both indicated their basic commitment to free trade. They haven’t been complete in their endorsement,” he said, adding that caveats like “fair” have been invoked quite regularly.

Some Confusion
Coulton said his discussions with fellow APEC delegates had revealed some confusion about how the mounting tensions between the world’s two biggest economies will play out.

“The elephant in the room is trying to pin down whether they’re going down a particular path on this,” he said. “If that was understood, maybe countries could work toward that, but maybe the irregular nature of what’s happening at the moment is what’s unsettling.”

Still, he said, that made other Apec members “even more determined” to ensure they “keep channels open and keep growing the opportunities for free trade and hopefully the storm that’s happening at the moment will settle down.”

Apec members reaffirmed a commitment to keep their markets open “and to fight against and to roll back protectionist and trade-distorting measures,” chair Rimbink Pato, who is also Papua New Guinea’s minister for foreign affairs and trade, said in a statement at the meeting’s conclusion.

They also pledged to recommit toward achieving a free-trade area in the Asia-Pacific and to bridge the “digital divide,” according to the final communique.

Australia funds Lae School of Nursing new academic building

Australian High Commission

Students of the Lae School of Nursing in Morobe Province will greatly benefit from the new infrastructure support provided by the Australian government.

 

Opening of the academic building at the Lae School of Nursing by Health Secretary Pascoe Kase, Australian High Commissioner Bruce Davis and Morobe Governor Ginson Saonu

Secretary for Health Pasco Kase and Australian High Commissioner, Bruce Davis opened the new academic building at the Lae School of Nursing on Tuesday, May 8.

The major infrastructure upgrade support valued at approximately K25 million is part of the Angau Hospital redevelopment project, an initiative under the Joint Understanding between the governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia.

Delegates with students in front of the new academic building at the Lae School of Nursing

Developments include the renovation of the administration building and construction of a new academic building complex. 

The new building complex includes tutorial rooms, a computer lab, library and student mess.

Tour inside the training facility at the Lae School of Nursing

The new facilities, which have the capacity to cater for over 300 students, will deliver a conducive teaching and learning environment for both staff and students.

Security lighting has also been installed to enable students to access school facilities and Angau Hospital for clinical practicals in the evenings.

The project, which was completed late last year and provided job opportunities and skills development for an estimated 90 local  construction workers, who were involved in the construction of the facilities.

The Lae School of Nursing was established in the 1960s and has a longstanding relationship with Angau Hospital, which continues as the school’s teaching hospital.

Through Australia’s partnership with Papua New Guinea, this assistance to the Lae School of Nursing will help to ensure the ongoing provision of adequately trained staff for the expanded facilities at Angau  Hospital, as well as addressing potential shortages of skilled health workers throughout the country. 

Report: Papua New Guinea has lowest population of tourists in the world

HOLIDAY destinations such as Spain, France, Greece and Thailand have proven popular in the past, particularly among Britons. But which country now suffers from the worse case of "overtourism"?

By HARRIET MALLINSON
Thu, May 24, 2018
Express

A new “tourism density” index has compared total visitor arrivals in 2016 to the permanent population.

Overtourism: Too many visitors can affect the locals' quality of life

Croatia wins the title of most tourists per head of population, according to Australian travel company Intrepid.

In 2016 the small Eastern European country welcomed 57,587,000 tourists, while their population is made up of just 4,170,000 people.

This means international visitors make up 1380.78 per cent of Croatia’s population.

That’s nearly 14 tourists to every local.

At the other end of the spectrum, suffering from dramatic undertourism, is Papua New Guinea.

There, tourists make up just 2.45 per cent of the population.

The southwestern Pacific country welcomes just 198,000 tourists yet has 8,084,990 locals.

Part of the word’s second largest island, Papua New Guinea is the world’s most diverse country linguistically with over 700 native tongues.

Roughly 80 per cent of the population live in rural areas with minimal or no facilities of modern life.

When visitors outweigh locals, it can become an issue for their cost of living and therefore quality of life

Croatia's popularity is hardly surprising.

Croatia features a beautiful Adriatic coastline and is a land of impressive natural beauty, not to mention a pilgrimage site for Game of Thrones fans.

Iceland, which is experiencing an overwhelming tourism boom at the moment, came second on the index.

The Nordic island has 334,250 locals but attracts a whopping 1,891,000 tourists.

So for every local in Iceland there are six tourists.

“When visitors outweigh locals, it can become an issue for their cost of living and therefore quality of life,” says Intrepid.

Overtourism: For every local in Iceland there are six tourists

“Whilst tourism plays a major part in Iceland’s economy, it is the ideal case study for overtourism.”

Third on the list is Greece, followed by Spain, Italy and Mexico in the top six.

These countries don’t all necessarily welcome such high level of popularity. Italy has recently taken action to help its people cope with the incessant tourist invasion.

In Venice, tourist-only routes to super-popular landmarks, St Mark’s Square and the Rialto Bridge, have been created.

Locals had long complained that their day-to-lives were greatly impeded by the hordes of visitors.

Overtourism: Venice has taken measure to improve matter for locals fed up with tourists

Intrepid conducted the research as part of its first Adventure Travel Index, which looks at the travel habits of the tour company's travellers.

District update from Tari-Pori MP James Marape

By JAMES MARAPE
May 24, 2018

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill today directed ExxonMobil, Works and Implementation Minister Michael Nali and Secretary David Wereh, and contractor Curtain Brothers  to start on the Hela 1, 2 and 3 buildings in Tari as well as start sealing Wabia to Nipa and Halimbu to Komo roads.
This was in the presence of Hela Governor Philip Undialu, Koroba-Lake Kopiago MP and Immigration Minister Petrus Thomas, Southern Highlands Governor William Powi and myself.
ExxonMobil has committed to draw down K150 million tax credit of which the first  K70 million  will be made available this month for work to start.
We are also getting Chinese Exim Bank to fund the high-voltage power line into Hides from Mt Hagen.
Kumul Petroleum has been asked to finance the smaller 22 kva distribution lines in and around Hela and Southern Highlands.
Prime Minister O'Neill has also directed Oil Search to provide tax credit funding to complete Gulf-Southern Highlands- Hela Highway as well as getting Poroma-Kutubu Highway sealed.
My people , I know many problems face us. Worst of all is lack of development in our areas.
 I admit we have not done much in terms of large-scale impact projects.
However,  just because these have not started yet does not mean we,  your leaders,  aren’t fighting for you.
As your leaders, we dream the same dream you have.
Many times, our own differences of opinion, tribal fights or political fights cause  delay work we can achieve for our home province if we all work together.
My dream remains for a better Hela: Educated, healthy and industrious people.
I want sealed roads to run from Komo to Tari , Tari to Kopiago, Tari to Mendi, Tari to Kikori, Tari to the wharf in Kikori.
I want functioning sealed airports in both Tari and Komo, electricity from Hides with getting fibre optics from Hides to the whole of Hela.
These are but a few dreams but we can’t advance much with law-and-order problems.
I am coming home next week to consolidate on the present peace programme my district peace team has started.
I ask my people to try our best to resolve our differences in a peaceful manner.
Let us show the country we are people with the ability to forgive and care for each other.
Next week, when I come,  I hope to bring planners from PNG Defence Force who will look at possible sites for a 1000-soldier barracks in my district.
I am also dreaming of a military base in Tari for the long-term.
Many things are possible for our district and province.
We are in Government not to waste time.
If in difficult times our Government can change Port Moresby, Lae and Mt Hagen, we can do likewise for Tari.
All I request is PEACE.
My people, be rest assured I am still at work for you.
By the time I am finished as your MP, I want to leave Tari a better district then what I took over from.
Thank you and God Bless.

Schools in remote areas of Kokoda Track receive new education buildings

Australian High Commission

Two elementary schools in the Mt Koiari area of the Kokoda Track have celebrated the opening of new education facilities delivered by the Australian Government through the Kokoda Initiative.

Students inside the new classroom at Manari Elementary School

Double classrooms were constructed at Manari Elementary School and Boridi Elementary School in Central Province. Manari also received a new staff house, which will be occupied by the school principal.

The official opening of the new buildings was held on 23 May and attended by students, teachers, local community members and representatives from the Central Provincial Administration, Australian High Commission and Seventh Day Adventist church.


Minister Counsellor Andrew Egan from the Australian High Commission said he hoped the new buildings would improve learning outcomes and opportunities for local children living in the remote area of Mt Koiari.

                                Opening at Boridi Elementary School


“Through the Kokoda Initiative, Australia is partnering with the Government of Papua New Guinea to deliver health and education infrastructure to support the delivery of basic services to remote communities along the Kokoda Track.”

The new classrooms will provide over 100 elementary students from Manari and Boridi, and the nearby villages of Milei, Daoi and Kagi, with better learning environments to encourage attendance at school.

The new classroom at Boridi is the first permanent school building in the village. Students will be able to use desks and chairs for the first time after previously sitting on the ground in classrooms made of bush materials.

Students, teachers, local community members and representatives from the Central Provincial Administration and Australian High Commission in front of the new classroom at Boridi Elementary School

“Every year the parents go to the bush to cut trees and collect bush materials to fix the classroom and it’s very hard work,” said Bosco Mailu, Boridi Elementary School chairman and village leader. “This new double classroom – with new chairs and tables – is something new in our school and village, and we are very excited. The parents are very happy, the whole village is happy.”

The new infrastructure in Manari complements an existing double classroom and replaces an old classroom made from bush materials. Locals celebrated the construction by chopping down a rough structure made from palm fronds to symbolise a bright future where strong permanent buildings will replace old ones.

                                Opening at Manari Elementary School


Since September 2017, a total of 16 new school buildings and 10 building upgrades have been completed along the Kokoda Track through the Kokoda Initiative program. Further works are due for completion by mid-year.

The Kokoda Initiative is a long-standing partnership between Australia and Papua New Guinea. The partnership is supporting remote villages along and around the Kokoda Track as part of its enduring commitment to provide communities with better access to quality health and education.

US family rejoices at finding of soldier’s World War II plane in PNG

by The Associated Press, wtop.com
May 23, 2018

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tom Kelly grew up on a Northern California farm and once thought of becoming a cowboy before World War II got in the way.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces instead, and on March 11, 1944, the 21-year-old 2nd lieutenant was aboard a B-24 bomber with 10 others when it was struck by Japanese anti-aircraft fire and plunged into the Pacific Ocean.

When the plane Kelly and his fellow crew members called Heaven Can Wait was found at the bottom of a bay off the coast of Papua New Guinea, a wave of exhilaration — albeit one mixed with grief — washed over his family, including many members too young to have ever met him.

“This discovery of where the wreck is, of seeing pictures and videos of the wreck on the floor of Hansa Bay. My goodness, it brings closure in a way we didn’t expect,” Scott Althaus of Chicago said.

On Memorial Day 2013 Althaus launched what would quickly become a family-wide project to learn everything relatives could about the young man who grew up thinking he’d be a cowboy but then, inspired by his military service, decided he wanted to be a pilot instead. He was the bombardier on Heaven Can Wait.

“He was a very gregarious man. He kept up correspondence with I think 38 different people stateside while he was overseas. He was just everybody’s friend, very well liked,” said Althaus, Kelly’s first cousin once removed. “It would have been something to see what he would have done after coming back from the war if that had been his outcome.”

A year ago Kelly’s family turned over what they learned to Project Recover, a team of marine scientists, historians, archaeologists, divers and others who seek out military crash sites connected to cases involving those listed as Missing in Action.

The organization announced the find Monday, and said its search was aided greatly by what the family provided, including eyewitness narratives, military reports, flight documents and even diary entries from crew members on planes flying in formation with Kelly’s when it was hit.

This also marked the first time that an MIA family had provided his group such support, said Eric Terrill, Project Recover’s co-founder and leader of the search.

“The results from our efforts in Hansa Bay have stirred a mix of lasting emotions within our team and drives home the need to recognize the sacrifices that service members and their families make in protecting our freedoms,” said Terrill, who works at San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The findings are being turned over to the Department of Defense’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which seeks to recover remains of MIAs.

Althaus said if his cousin’s body is retrieved the family hopes he might someday be buried in his hometown of Livermore, California.

For now, however, the family is simply rejoicing in having finally found him.

A professor of political science and communications at the University of Illinois, Althaus’ area of expertise is political opinion and news coverage of war. It was his research into the subject that led him to try to learn the life story of the cousin he never met. Like many family members he was born after Kelly died. Others, including his mother, were small children when they last saw him.

“One of the wonderful things that came out of this effort to just figure out what happened on March 11, 1944, was really bringing the family together across lines that we didn’t communicate through very often,” he said. “And to bring these stories to life.”

He’s hoping that this Memorial Day other families might do the same.

Discovery of crashed WWII plane in PNG brings closure to US family

by Mary Roberts, knopnews2.com
May 23, 2018

NORTH PLATTE, Neb.-- A North Platte woman can sleep peacefully now, finally having closure about what happened to a missing World War Two plane and the men on it.

Mary Pieper remembers her first cousin Joe McFadden like it was yesterday. Pieper says that McFadden was more like a big brother. He had a fun personality and a bright smile. Pieper always looked forward to spending time with him out in the country.

"He made a really big impression on me," Pieper said. "You always saw him with a smile."

She can also recall vividly the day that she found out his B-24 bomber went down during the war. The day was March 11, 1944 and she was just 14 years old.

"It was sad," Pieper said. "It's kind of hard to explain. It was kind of unbelievable, I guess."

McFadden's plane crashed off the coast of Papua New Guinea at Hansa Bay with 11 men on board.

Seventy-four years later, a search unveiled McFadden's plane.

The non-profit organization Project Recover took to the ocean waters in October 2017 in an attempt to find five fallen U.S. air crafts.

"I'm glad this happened before I get any older," Pieper said.

Pieper is the last living person who knew McFadden, but she shares his story with family so that he is never forgotten.