TechInPacific – According to the U.S Charge d’Affaires, James Caruso on Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio, the U.S is finding an “alternative way” to provide connectivity in Papua New Guinea. It indicates that the U.S is willing to limit the Chinese Brand’s Huawei’s operations in Papua New Guinea by attempting to counteroffer the company’s fixed plan to establish internet infrastructure in the Oceanian nation.
The Pacific Island Nations are the strategic areas that both the U.S and China have an interest in. What to remember is that both of them have major votes in the forum like the United Nations. The Chinese Brand, Huawei has planned to build a submarine network cables to link 14 towns in Papua New Guinea ever since two years ago with the influence of the Chinese government. This situation grows worrisome to observers as it is predicted that “China would split the internet through the installation of infrastructure as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)”. The prediction is made by Eric Schmidt, a former chairperson of Google’s parent company Alphabet. If the prediction is true, the Chinese government would have control and monitor on the flow of data transfer through the cable system.