China still the elephant in the room

WELLINGTON: Defence Minister Ron Mark is happy to put New Zealand Defence Force personnel and their people skills up against the big bucks from China in terms of winning favour among Pacific Island nations.

But the Government tiptoed around the greater geopolitical battle for control of the Pacific in a major defence framework released yesterday.

A substantial update on the muchtrumpeted ‘‘Pacific Reset’’ of last year, the ‘‘Advancing Pacific Partnerships’’ defence assessment was released by Mr Mark in Wellington.

Providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief is a top priority, while climate change is recognised as the region’s biggest threat.

There is not one reference to China, the strategic Pacific counterweight to the United States, in the 32page document.

New Zealand counts the US as a defence ally, and is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance along with Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada.

In the place of direct references to the world’s most populous nation, there is an emphasis on partnering with ‘‘likeminded’’ nations to prevent ‘‘disrupters’’ such as climate change, transnational organised crime and resource competition.

New Zealand’s recent treatment of the Pacific region — which Mr Mark described as ‘‘paternalistic’’ and ‘‘condescending’’ — has been partly blamed for creating space for China to move in.

‘‘It’s fair to say we dropped the ball and we lost sight of what’s really important,’’ he said yesterday.

Asked how people skills compared with money from China in the Pacific, Mr Mark said: ‘‘If you’re asking me if I put money ahead of people, the answer is ‘no’.’’

China has poured billions of dollars into the Pacific in recent years, mostly for infrastructure projects and through concessional loans.

New Zealand also supports Pacific infrastructure, though not with the same financial heft, and is also pursuing soft diplomacy, such as training and peopletopeople relationships.

Part of that diplomacy will be Defence Forcerun leadership programmes in Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Tonga, each tailored to those countries’ needs.

Mr Mark said the strategy was about partnering with ‘‘likeminded’’ nations in ways that did not undermine Pacific nations’ sovereignty.

‘‘If nations are put into positions where they are unable to repay debts, if there are caveats and ties attached to financial assistance, that has the potential to undermine economical sovereignty.’’

He did not include China in his list of ‘‘likeminded’’ nations, but ‘‘would like to think’’ China had the same interests as New Zealand, such as transparency and ‘‘the prosperity and wellbeing and the sovereign rights of Pacific Island nations’’.

China was an important player in the Pacific and should not be ignored, Mr Mark said.

‘‘There are areas where we will require collaboration and cooperation with China, particularly as the impact of climate change becomes more severe and we find ourselves responding to increasingly violent and more frequent disruptive weather patterns.’’ — The New Zealand Herald/AAP