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Past a glistening fountain, between rising pillars of concrete marked with tribal motifs, lies China's latest gift to the people of Papua New Guinea.
Refurbished, renovated and plushily outfitted, the Port Moresby International Convention Centre is a $35 million showpiece of Chinese engineering, even though it required repairs after its initial opening, when PNG complained about a number of "problems".
But the convention centre's re-opening came with the enticing announcement of a dramatic increase in Chinese aid to PNG, much of it to support the country as it hosts the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November.
Rumours of a Chinese effort to establish a military base in Vanuatu — denied by both the Chinese and Vanuatu governments — sparked alarm in Australia and New Zealand this past week.
Such rumours — along with huge geopolitical issues like the US-Russia faceoff in Syria and potential trade war between the US and China — will make APEC a crucial meeting for the world's most powerful leaders later this year.
In the PNG capital, China has already begun major road projects near the convention centre.
China is building a grand six-lane boulevard between the convention centre and the nearby national parliament, worth an estimated $40 million.
The Chinese Government is also upgrading the Port Moresby freeway that leaders' motorcades will use during APEC.
"These projects fully demonstrate the strong support and confidence from the Chinese Government to the PNG Government to host a unique and successful APEC meeting in November," China's ambassador to PNG, Xue Bing, said.
The value of the aid was not publicly announced, but the ABC understands the convention centre and one of the road projects together are worth about $80 million.
Meanwhile, Australia is spending more than $100 million supporting PNG's hosting of the summit.
But PNG's Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, singled out China's support while spruiking the benefits of APEC.
"If people around the world did not hear about PNG today, after November they will, because PNG is very fortunate to be part of the APEC process and we are clear benefits from the support we are receiving, and China is the biggest supporter of our country," he said.
Mr O'Neill's rhetoric shows how the leaders of strategically important small countries like PNG can use the competition between China and traditional partners like Australia to attract aid and investment.
New empires pitted against old
And it's working — Australia, the United States and Japan are all responding to the growing Chinese presence in PNG.
Australia is launching new aid projects and increasing engagement with PNG's leaders, while the US and Japan are both building large new embassies in Port Moresby.
The US, like Australia, is also providing security cooperation and training for PNG agencies ahead of APEC.
But China has been quietly doing similar things, even training PNG police officers in a program that has not been publicised in PNG at all.
PNG is the poorest member of APEC and November will be the first time the summit has been held in the Pacific.
The director of the Pacific Islands program at the Lowy Institute, Jonathan Pryke, said China's increasing influence had raised the importance of the APEC summit for other countries.
"Geopolitics in the Pacific have been pretty benign since World War II, but with the entrance of China into the Pacific in a big way over the last 20 years, [it] has really upended that dynamic," he said.
"So the stakes are higher, or the onus is on traditional partners — the US, Australia, New Zealand — to be doing more in the Pacific.
"And attending this summit, the first of its kind in the Pacific, sends a strong message to the Pacific that there is commitment to this part of the world."
Previously Port Moresby was mainly known for its high crime rate and consistent — and probably unjustified — listing as one of the world's most dangerous places to live.
This year, it's the stage for a geopolitical showdown that pits new empires against old.
Topics: foreign-aid, government-and-politics, world-politics, foreign-affairs, papua-new-guinea, china
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