Australia and Papua New Guinea leaders trek toward WWII South Pacific battleground

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia and Papua New Guinea’s prime ministers have begun trekking into the South Pacific island nation’s mountainous interior to commemorate a pivotal World War II campaign and to underscore their current security alliance, which faces challenges from China’s growing regional influence. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese received an elaborate traditional welcome when he arrived by helicopter at Kokoda Village on Tuesday with his Papua New Guinean counterpart James Marape. The pair will walk 9 miles over two days along the rugged Kokoda Track where the Japanese army’s advance toward what is now the national capital, Port Moresby, was halted in 1942 in the wilds of the Owen Stanley Range.