Five Eyes comments slammed in UK press
NEW Zealand faces the prospect of expulsion from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, according to a leading British newspaper
Daily Telegraph defence editor Con Coughlin says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has a preference for ‘‘cosying up to China’s communist rulers’’.
He refers to Ms Ardern as New Zealand’s ‘‘tiresomely woke prime minister’’.
Coughlin said attempts by other Five Eyes countries, Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia, to present a united front against Beijing had been thwarted by the New Zealand Government’s preference for maintaining cordial ties with Beijing.
‘‘Thanks to Wellington’s naive decision to prioritise trade with China over its membership of the elite Five Eyes intelligencesharing network, Ms Ardern can expect her country’s isolation to deepen further as New Zealand faces the very real prospect of expulsion from the alliance over its proBeijing stance.’’
He made the comments in an opinion piece following a statement this week by Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta.
She said New Zealand was not comfortable with an expanded remit of Five Eyes to speak for New Zealand.
The issue is likely to be discussed today when Ms Mahuta and her Australian counterpart, Marise Payne, hold talks in Wellington.
Twice last year, New Zealand signed up to Five Eyes statements about Hong Kong, once when coalition partner Winston Peters was foreign minister and once in November when Ms Mahuta became minister.
But Ms Mahuta did not not want to make a habit of conducting diplomacy through Five Eyes.
She did not want to use Five Eyes as the first point of contact on a range of issues that existed outside of its remit.
‘‘That is a matter that we have raised with Five Eyes partners that we are uncomfortable with expanding the remit of Five Eyes.’’
She said New Zealand would much rather prefer to look for ‘‘multilateral opportunities’’ to express its interests on a number of issues.
New Zealand has also issued many statements on its own, on issues related to China, some with Australia and some with larger multilateral groupings.
The Daily Telegraph piece claims the Five Eyes alliance last year decided to change its remit from collecting and sharing intelligence to promoting shared values on democracy and human rights.
That is a reference to a defence ministers’ teleconference meeting in which New Zealand was represented by New Zealand First minister Ron Mark.
Ministers issued a press statement afterwards saying the ministers committed to meeting regularly ‘‘as part of efforts to address existing and emerging security challenges, and to advance their shared values of democracy, freedom and respect for human rights’’.
Sources in New Zealand say no change in the Five Eyes remit was discussed by the Cabinet and the Government does not see that press statement as a change in the Five Eyes remit either.
No Five Eyes partner has raised expulsion or suspension with New Zealand.
The article also says that in 2003, London and Washington considered ending New Zealand’s membership of Five Eyes in response to former Labour prime minister Helen Clark apparently scaling back its cooperation with Five Eyes because of her opposition to the Iraq war.
When contacted yesterday, Miss Clark said she was staggered at the suggestion.
She had no recollection of any scaling down and believed the head of the agencies would back her up.
She believes Five Eyes straying out of the shadows and into more public positioning was problematic.
‘‘That is trying to get everyone into a line and New Zealand does value its independent foreign policy and it starts to go over lines.’’
Ms Ardern reaffirmed New Zealand’s commitment to the Five Eyes yesterday.
‘‘What we’re simply articulating here is that, sometimes, statements we’ll make collectively will be appropriately be made by Five Eyes together.
‘‘The point we’re making is Five Eyes is a security and intelligence platform.
‘‘Not every issue we speak on as New Zealand is a security and intelligence issue.’’
Five Eyes began as a wartime intelligence agreement between Britain and the United States intelligence agencies and in 1946 was formalised into the Ukusa agreement for signals intelligence between the GCHQ and NSA, to which Canada was added in 1948 and Australia and New Zealand in 1956.
New Zealand maintained the operation of its spy satellites to supply the alliance with intelligence during the 30year rift with the United States and nuclear policy — and despite New Zealand’s suspension from the Anzus security alliance.
Some limits that had previously been imposed on sharing intelligence with New Zealand and instigated by the US were relaxed when Miss Clark was prime minister.
New Zealand was fully let back into the Five Eyes club in Barack Obama’s first term as US president. — The New Zealand Herald