NZ navy will join UK flotilla in east Asia

New Zealand’s navy will join the United Kingdom’s flagship aircraft carrier in a tour of the IndoPacific, including passing through the contested South China Sea, the defence minister says.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth departed Portsmouth, England, on Sunday for its maiden voyage. It will lead a carrier strike group that includes United States and Dutch navies on a tour of 40 countries, reaching India, East Asia, and the Pacific later this year.

Defence Minister Peeni Henare said it was his expectation that New Zealand would ‘‘most definitely’’ join the carrier group in its travels through the Pacific and East Asia. New Zealand may join the flotilla in visits to Japan and South Korea. ‘‘When I spoke with my counterpart in the UK we had indicated, despite the Covid restrictions, our willingness to play our part,’’ he said.

‘‘We’ve made it clear that we’re naturally at home in the Pacific, and we look to support the work that they’re doing ... We’re certainly committed to that.

‘‘We do have to go through a process to approve that through Cabinet, and also to make sure that our personnel are safe because of Covid-19.’’ China has been rapidly expanding its footprint in the South China Sea, including by building military installations on islands constructed on atolls and challenging countries including the Philippines and Vietnam. It is also locked in a territorial dispute with Japan over a set of islands in the East China Sea.

Henare was advised, in a 2020 Defence Force briefing, that the Pacific was a strategic concern to New Zealand as China ‘‘seeks to restore claimed historical levels of influence’’.

UK High Commissioner to New Zealand Laura Clarke said in a speech last month Britain was interested offering its defence capabilities to the Indo-pacific to ‘‘tackle shared security challenges and uphold freedom of navigation and international law’’. ‘‘We will work closely together with other like-minded countries in responding to the systemic challenge that China poses to our security, prosperity and values,’’ she said.

A Defence Force spokeswoman, responding to questions in an emailed statement, said while New Zealand had been invited to ‘‘interact’’ with the carrier strike group, details were yet to be confirmed.

New Zealand would also join the UK navy in an exercise with the Five Powers Defence Arrangement countries, being held off the east coast of Malaysia in October.

The exercise would mark 50 years of the military grouping, which includes Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.