Helen Clark and Don Brash warn Government dragging NZ into US-China conflict

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark warned the Government was shying away from an independent foreign policy. Photo / Getty Images

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark and former National and Act leader Don Brash said Prime Minister Christopher Luxon dangerously departed from decades of New Zealand foreign policy in a high-stakes interview with international media, and that the Government’s pro-American tilt meant we “will increasingly be dragged into US-China competition, including militarily in the South China Sea”.

In a joint statement, Clark and Brash said Luxon’s remarks in the interview “strongly suggest that he has abandoned New Zealand’s independent foreign policy”.

They criticised Luxon’s comments coming just a month after the visit of the Chinese Premier Li Qiang to New Zealand, where they said there was little hint of a pro-American tilt. They also criticised the fact that the alleged change in foreign policy came without any prior warning on the campaign trail. The Government downplays any change, arguing it is reconnecting with the rest of the world and that on contentious aspects of foreign policy like Aukus, it is simply picking up where the last Government left off.

Luxon spoke to the Financial Times on his recent trip to the Nato summit in Washington DC. The interview, which was republished by the Herald said Luxon felt comfortable naming and shaming Chinese espionage that he was “very open” towering on Aukus pillar 2 projects.

The interview touched upon several areas where the current Government appears to be moving closer to New Zealand’s traditional security partners, including our only ally, Australia, and close partners like the United States.

Luxon said that he was “very open” to joint military exercises with the Philippines, along with the US, Australian and Japanese military. He visited Manila earlier this year and hoped to complete a “status of visiting forces agreement” to deploy military assets to the Philippines.

The Philippines is currently on the front line of often aggressive Chinese projection in the Pacific.

Luxon said New Zealand could “add value” to its security relationships but that it was critical to be “highly interoperable with Australia” and a “force multiplier for Australia and the US and other partners”.

This bridled Clark and Brash, along with his comments about Aukus and naming and shaming China.

“These statements orient New Zealand towards being a full-fledged military ally of the United States, with the implication that New Zealand will increasingly be dragged into US-China competition, including militarily in the South China Sea.

“While the rhetoric from both sides is heightened, it must be noted that the US is demanding that China accept the presence of US naval forces in its vicinity in a way which the US itself would not for a moment accept if the boot were on the other foot,” they said.

They said Luxon’s comments on Aukus went “well beyond” the Government’s prior position of simply “exploring” options for engagement, much like the last Government.

Clark and Brash said that China was “almost certainly” spying on New Zealand, but added that the US, UK and “countless others, including New Zealand” were spying on other countries.

They said New Zealand’s “obsessive focus” on spying by China “suggests an agenda going beyond alerting and equipping New Zealanders to better manage all relevant risks.

“China not only poses no military threat to New Zealand, but it is also by a very substantial margin our biggest export market – more than twice as important as an export market for New Zealand as the US is,” they said.

“New Zealand has a huge stake in maintaining a cordial relationship with China. It will be difficult, if not impossible, to maintain such a relationship if the Government continues to align its positioning with that of the United States,” they said.

They said that isolating China was a reversal of New Zealand foreign policy and that it did not serve New Zealand’s interests.

“A better approach would be to follow the example of Singapore – friendly to both China and the US, but definitely not in a treaty relationship with either. The course which the New Zealand Government is now taking, with no electoral mandate for a radical change to foreign policy, carries huge risks to our country”, they said.

Otago University Professor Robert Patman said the Prime Minister “probably needs to be more clear-eyed about US foreign policy, especially with the prospect of an ‘America – First’ Trump administration looming in November that openly opposes multilateralism, a key feature of New Zealand foreign policy since 1945″.

Patman said he was still waiting for the Government to “publicly challenge the Biden administration’s complicity in the breaking of international law in Gaza, a direct assault on the international rules-based order on which New Zealand relies.

“The National-led coalition government quite rightly talks about China’s challenge to the international rules-based order through cyber-attacks and its interference activities but remains strangely tongue-tied when it comes to calling out the actions of a US ally, the Netanyahu government, for its policy of ‘mighty vengeance’ in Gaza after 7 October 2023. That policy has led to the death of more than 38,000 Palestinians, many of whom are civilians with no links whatsoever with Hamas,” he said.

Labour’s Associate Foreign Affairs Spokesman Phil Twyford said Luxon’s “recent statements suggest a major realignment of New Zealand’s foreign policy that is a lurch away from the independent foreign policy that has seen successive governments manage relationships in a careful and balanced way.”.

“Before Mr Luxon lines New Zealand up behind the US and NATO in a new Cold War against China, he needs to think about New Zealand’s national interests more clearly.

“New Zealand has its differences with China, for example on human rights and the issue of foreign interference, but the relationship needs to be managed with respect and maturity. Any engagement in the Pacific needs to work in partnership with the Pacific, and supports the Pacific’s priorities and regional organisations such as the Pacific Islands Forum,” he said.

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.