Peters on second Pacific mission
Winston Peters is facing a challenge as he seeks to reinforce New Zealand’s credentials as a member of the Pacific family, while strengthening relationships with Australia and traditional partners such as the United States, a leading foreign policy expert is warning.
The foreign affairs minister begins his second Pacific mission today, a five-stop, bipartisan trip to Melanesia and Tuvalu.
It came at a critical juncture in the Pacific, with a number of general elections as well as a change in leadership at the Pacific Islands Forum, Massey University’s Associate Professor Anna Powles said.
But Peters’ two foreign policy objectives – affirming New Zealand’s identity as a part of the Pacific family while more closely aligning with traditional partners amid China’s growing push for influence – were always going to clash, she said.
“New Zealand’s Pacific identity rhetoric was always going to clash with New Zealand’s strategic anxieties,” Powles said. “Can New Zealand do both – chew gum and walk at the same time?”
Former Pacific leaders, who formed the Pacific Elders Voice, have spoken against New Zealand joining as an associate of the Aukus agreement – a security pact between the US, Britain and Australia, which involves nuclear submarines.
The Government has been exploring whether to join the pact under pillar two for three years, but there are scant details about what this would entail, and Labour has called for Peters to be more upfront with the public.
In response, Peters said New Zealand was “a long way” from joining Aukus.
Powles said it was unlikely Peters would be using the trip to soften Pacific leaders to New Zealand’s Aukus move. Some of their concerns have included the pact’s use of nuclear submarines, as well as how it might escalate an arms race in the Pacific, as China and the US compete for power.
Peters’ mission to Melanesia – where he will visit the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea – reflected the importance of New Zealand’s relationships with these countries, she added.
In April, the Solomon Islands held a general election where it elected Jeremiah Manele, who has promised to continue the country’s China-friendly policy.
Other Western leaders, including from the European Union, have stepped up their interest in the Pacific, in light of Beijing’s growing presence.
Penny Wong, Australia’s foreign affairs minister, was last week in Tuvalu, where she penned a landmark migration and security pact worth $120 million with the small island nation, which is greatly at risk from rising sea levels. It is also an ally of Taiwan.
Opposition spokesperson for foreign affairs, David Parker, as well as Climate Minister Simon Watts, Minister for Pacific Peoples and Health Dr Shane Reti, and Tim van de Molen, chair of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee, are part of the delegation, which left yesterday and will return on Saturday.