(Bloomberg) — Papua New Guinea will not “compromise” its values as part of its diplomatic relationship with China, Prime Minister James Marape said in Australia, after a recent media report that the Pacific nation was considering a policing agreement with China.

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Marape has doubled down on his country’s economic and security ties with Australia as he became the first Pacific leader to address a joint sitting of the parliament in Canberra on Thursday. It is an honor previously accorded to international leaders such as Chinese President Xi Jinping and former US leader Barack Obama.

Later on Thursday, the premier said in a speech at the Australian National University that he had not been asked about potential security cooperation during his visit to Beijing in October. “We will not compromise,” he said. “Certain values we hold dear, such as democracy, and China respects us for this.”

“We were transparent with them, we don’t play nations against each other,” Marape said.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Marape in Canberra earlier on Thursday, after which both leaders issued a statement reaffirming the “existing security architecture as a key driver of security cooperation” and agreeing to “transparent, inclusive decision making.”

“A strong, economically empowered Papua New Guinea means a stronger, more secure Australia,” Marape said in his speech to the parliament in Canberra. “We must become a strong country, standing on two feet, economically independent and strong, so that we too can help Australia maintain democracy, perverse peace and ensure stability in our Pacific,” he told Australian lawmakers.

Australia signed a bilateral security agreement with Papua New Guinea in December, the latest in a series of moves by Canberra to strengthen its relations with the Pacific region in the wake of China’s push for influence.

In late January, Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkachenko walked back remarks made in an interview with Reuters that his government was looking at a potential policing and security deal with China. Tkachenko said in a Jan. 30 statement that the government didn’t want to compromise its security relationship with Australia or the US.

“It is not going to be the end of the world if we do not come to an understanding or agreement with China,” the Australian Financial Review cited Tkachenko as saying.

(Updates throughout with PM Marape’s speech.)

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