Lobbying in the Former Colony In the tussle with China over influence, Germany uses Covid-19 aid in Papua New Guinea, a former German colony ("Kaiser-Wilhelms-Land"). BERLIN/PORT MORESBY | 04/26/2021 BERLIN/PORT MORESBY (Own report) - In the tussle with China over influence, Germany is enhancing its position using aid in combating the Covid-19 pandemic in strategically located Papua New Guinea. The Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe ("St. John Accident Assistance"), a partner in Germany's foreign policy, recently sent a group of doctors and nurses to that Oceanic country to support its health system, which is currently moaning under the increase in severe Covid 19 cases. This operation is among the efforts being undertaken by Germany and other western governments to counteract China's growing economic influence. The USA, for example, seeks to upgrade the Lombrum Naval Base on Papua New Guinea's island province of Manus. Papua New Guinea is strategically located at the maritime trade routes leading from Australia into the Pacific. Until the Second World War, the country's north had been a German colony. The German colonial power's activities have an impact even today. The German government is drawing on colonial traditions, such as the work of missionaries.