Papua New Guinea had declared next Monday a public holiday in anticipation of an historic visit by U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders from the region.
President Biden's decision to shorten his upcoming Asia trip and skip a meeting of leaders of the strategic U.S.-India-Japan-Australia "Quad" group to deal with the debt crisis in Washington marks a blow to the ongoing U.S. campaign to show itself a reliable partner for countering China's increasingly aggressive rise in the region and on the world stage.