Original title: Australian media: US Navy returns to PNG after 80 years

　　 According to the Australian News website on April 29, the US Navy returned to Papua New Guinea (PNG) for the first time in 80 years.

According to the report, the US Navy has started to launch various projects at the strategically important Longblum Naval Base on Los Negros Island, which is located next to Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, including a huge training center of 700 square meters, a ship facility of the same size and a dock.

According to the defense cooperation agreement signed by US President Joe Biden last year, US military personnel can freely enter six military bases in PNG, including Longblum.

The defense community is brewing a new "base competition" to establish strategic maritime hubs in different regions, which is the latest move in this trend.

The initiative of the United States, together with the Australian Defence Force and the PNG Defence Force, to rebuild this World War II base was first announced in 2018, but the US government has only allocated a budget of 38.5 million Australian dollars (about 25.25 million US dollars) until now.

The US Navy announced: "These projects will support the PNG National Defense Force, maritime security operations, US military personnel participating in joint exercises and the US Indo Pacific Command's" theater movement plan "."

According to the agreement with PNG, Americans are not allowed to permanently garrison troops on the island, nearby airports and two other ports, but they can "pass through unimpeded" in the next 15 years or train and deploy equipment here.

Since 2020, the Australian Defense Forces and PNG have been rebuilding the base, including the parts engulfed by the jungle for decades, including the power plant, medical center and operation facilities of "Guardian" class patrol boats provided by Australia.

In February 1944, the US naval base, code named "Lion", was opened as a major maritime operation and maintenance base. During World War II, it was comparable to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii during the fierce war with Japan. It is a platform for the United States to liberate the Philippines, where 200 ships were docked and 37000 soldiers were stationed.

The US Navy abandoned this base after the war and gave it to Australia, which returned it to PNG in the 1970s. (Compiled by/Xu Yanhong)