https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/pm’s-chatham-house
New Zealand and Aotearoa's security policy is changing. I noticed it when PM Ardern visited the US and met with PM Biden and read the rather lengthy press conference, but really I should have noticed it when she visited Japan in April and met with PM Kishida. Her recent visit to NATO is also making headlines, but knowing the background of that visit brings up an even more interesting security issue for New Zealand.
Where should we start? I would like to start with a speech given at Chatham House in London the other day. New Zealand, with a population of 5 million, is a small country, and it has a much stronger relationship with China. That direction is changing.
Ardern, who was a policy staff member in the Helen Clark administration, began by telling the story of how she went to the U.K. during the Tony Blair administration to work, albeit briefly, in the U.K., which she called home for a time. The story conveys the mixed feelings of nostalgia and foreignness that are common to both NZ and Australia.
She then explains New Zealand's foreign and security policy, citing the story of her own birth, when her father, a policeman, was not around. At that time, there was a move to boycott the tour of the South African rugby team because of New Zealand's opposition to apartheid in South Africa. Then there was the Rainbow Warrior bombing in 1985 and the subsequent signing of the Rarotonga Nuclear Free Treaty. This was when Japan took a major step forward in its Pacific island nation policy.
She summarizes the characteristics of such a foreign and security policy as having resulted in "a very particular approach".
"We are, and have always been, inextricably linked to the actions of others. As a small island trading nation, we have always known this, and borne the brunt of that principle. And the consequence of that, is a very particular approach to foreign policy.
We are fiercely independent but we also look outwards. we actively seek relationships with those who share our values, whilst never losing sight of the We are fiercely independent but we also look outwards."
I assume that China is referring to "never losing sight of the importance of dialogue with those who do not share the same values.
Next, he explains New Zealand's support for Ukraine through NATO and the UK. The significance of this is explained as follows. It reminds us that this is a Commonwealth nation, with the Queen at its head.
"The fact that much of New Zealand's assistance is being delivered with, or indeed in, the United Kingdom, speaks to our commonality of outlook, our bedrock of trust and the ease we find in working together."
And in response to critics of Ardern's NATO attendance, he stresses that war in Europe is a problem for the small Pacific nation.
"Some may ask though what a war in Europe has to do with a small pacific nation. the answer, is everything."
She also stressed the need for UN, WTO, and WHO reforms, which NZ has already begun to undertake. He then emphasizes the importance of the UK's participation in the CPTTP as the world's fifth largest economy committed to the rule of law and an ambitious trade policy.
The last issue she says she wants to focus on at the end of her nearly 20-minute speech is the issue of China. China is an important and old partner of New Zealand and the Pacific Island countries, and she also provides a check on future engagement, including the South China Sea and the recent involvement of the Pacific Island countries in security matters.
"China, our number one trading partner, a country we have had diplomatic relations with since the 1970s, has become increasingly assertive in our region.
Our engagement with a range of partners must continue, but under the banner of principles we can all agree on, And with an absolute focus on peace, stability, transparency and dialogue."
Finally, she jokes about the similarities and dissimilarities between the UK and Aotearoa New Zealand, encourages cooperation, and concludes with her political philosophy.
One comment is that the Pacific Island countries were the United Kingdom until the 1970s. Tonga, Fiji, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Nauru were British. The regional higher education institution, the University of the South Pacific, was created by the British and New Zealand governments. Australia was not included. Nor is Papua New Guinea.
