Updated May 22, 2019June 8, 2020
New Zealand
The United States and New Zealand work together closely
in bilateral, regional, and global contexts to address
common interests in the areas of defense, foreign affairs,
and trade. Bilateral and multilateral military-to-military
exercises involving the two countries, such as the 23 nation
RIMPAC naval exercise, have increased in number since
the signing of the Wellington Declaration of 2010 and the
Washington Declaration of 2012. These declarations
marked turning points in bilateral relations after differences
over nuclear policy in the 1980s prompted the United States
to suspend its alliance commitments to New Zealand (see
below). The renewed strength of the bilateral relationship
was also demonstrated by the November 2016 visit of the
USS Sampson, the first U.S. warship visit to New Zealand
in more than 30 years. This strengthening of the
relationship has been building since New Zealand’s
commitment of military forces to Afghanistan in 2003. In
the view of many observers, this return to close cooperation
puts to rest past differences over nuclear policy.
The opposition center-right National Party is led by Simon
BridgesTodd
Muller. The next election is due by Novemberscheduled for September 2020.
Figure 1. New Zealand in Brief
Background
New Zealand and the United States have common historical
roots as settler societies of the British Empire. New
Zealand, also known to New Zealanders as Aotearoa or “the
land of the long white cloud,” was first settled by the
Polynesian-Maori people around the tenth century. Dutch
navigator Abel Tasman discovered the western coast of
New Zealand in 1642, but it was English Captain James
Cook who, over three expeditions in 1769, 1773, and 1777,
circumnavigated and mapped the islands. The 1840 Treaty
of Waitangi, between the British Crown and indigenous
Maori Chiefs, serves as the basis for relations between the
Maori and European communities. The British Monarch,
Queen Elizabeth II, is the constitutional head of state of
New Zealand. Her representative, the Governor General,
acts on the advice of the New Zealand Prime Minister’s
Cabinet. In 1893, New Zealand gave all women the right to
vote. New Zealand attained Dominion Status in 1907 and
and gained full political independence from Britain under the
the 1947 Statute of Westminster Adoption Act. In 1893,
New Zealand became the first self-governing country to
grant all women the right to vote.
Politics and Elections
New Zealand is a unicameral, mixed-member-proportional
(MMP), parliamentary democracy. MMP was introduced in
New Zealand in 1996. Under MMP, Members of
Parliament come from both single-member electorates and
from party lists leading to a parliament wherein which a party’s
share of the seats roughly mirrors its share of the overall
party vote. New Zealand does not have a state or provincial
level level
of government. The current government is a coalition
of the
Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern,
and and
the New Zealand First Party, led by Winston Peters.
This This
coalition has a confidence and supply agreement with
the the
Green Party and has been in power since October 2017. The
Source: CIA World Factbook and the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Ardern achieved high approval ratings as a result of her
government’s effective handling of the coronavirus. Ardern
lifted all coronavirus restrictions except border controls
after reporting zero active cases on June 7, 2020. Observers
expect that Labour will increase its seats in parliament
following the September 2020 election. June 2020
projections estimate that GDP growth will be -3.5% in 2020
and then increase to 1.7% growth in 2021.
Christchurch Massacre
A 28-year-old Australian man, who has been described as a
white supremacist, attacked the Al Noor Mosque and
Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, on
March 15, 2019. Fifty-one people were killed in the
attacks. Following the attacks, Prime Minister Ardern
reportedly told President Trump that the best way to show
support in the wake of the attacks would be to have
“sympathy and love for all Muslim communities.”
Following the attacks, parliament passed legislation
outlawing military style semi-automatic weapons and
assault rifles.
Defense and Foreign Policy
In part because New Zealand is a small nation, New
Zealand officials officials
place much emphasis on multilateral
processes and
institutions. They also place emphasis on
regional economic
institutions, and Australia and the United
States figure
prominently in New Zealand’s national
security affairs.
New Zealand’s commitment of regular
troops and other
assistance in support of the Provincial
Reconstruction Team
in Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan, in
2003 from 2003 to 2013
demonstrated, according to some observers, New
Zealand’s value not only in political and diplomatic terms
but also as a military partner in the field. New Zealand also
value as an apolitical, diplomatic, and military partner. New
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New Zealand
Zealand also demonstrated such support through its
deployment of
military trainers in Iraq.
New Zealand released a Strategic Defence Policy Statement
in July 2018 that one report called “more bold and frank in
terms of the Government’s foreign policy position, and its
singling out of countries, than anything a New Zealand
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New Zealand
government has released in recent years.” The Policy
Statement observes that “As Pacific island countries’
relationships with non-traditional partners continue to
develop, traditional partners such as New Zealand and
Australia will be challenged to maintain influence.”
Specifically, the Policy Statement notes that “China’s more
confident assertion of its interests has at times raised
tensions with neighbouringneighboring states and with the United
States.” The statement drew objections from China but was
defended by New Zealand First Party leader Peters.
Bilateral Relations with the United
States
The gradual return of close security cooperation between
the United States and New Zealand since 2003 has helped
forge a new security partnership between the two countries.
The two nations have fought together in many wars and
conflicts and established the Australia-New Zealand-United
States (ANZUS) alliance in 1951. During the mid-1980s the
United States suspended its alliance commitments to New
Zealand as a result of differences over nuclear policy,
stemming from New Zealand legislation that made it
nuclear free and the United States’ policy of neither
confirming nor denying the presence of nuclear weapons on
U.S. Navy ships.
The Wellington Declaration of 2010 was a key turning
point in United States-New Zealand relations. After 2010,
the United States and New Zealand agreed to emphasize
common interests and values, including the importance of
democracy, The
Wellington Declaration stated that “our shared democratic
values and common interests” will guide the two nations’
collective action, and through it the United States and New
Zealand agreed to emphasize the importance of democracy,
human rights, and the rule of law, rather than
let differences
over nuclear policy define the relationship.
The Wellington Declaration established in a public way a
new strategic partnership. It stated that “our shared
democratic values and common interests” will guide the
two nations’ collective action. The agreement . The agreement
pointed to the
need to address regional and global
challenges including
through enhanced dialogue on regional
security, practical
cooperation in the Pacific, Foreign
Ministers meetings,
political-military discussions, and
cooperation on climate
change, nuclear proliferation, and
international extremism.
The 2012 Washington Declaration
on Defense Cooperation
further opened the way for
enhanced strategic dialogue and
defense cooperation. This
positive momentum has been
sustained by subsequent developments
administrations. In July 2018, New
Zealand announced the
purchase of four Boeing P-8A
Poseidon aircraft.
Regional Relations
New Zealand enjoys very close relations with Australia, its
neighbor across the Tasman Sea. These trans-Tasman ties
are based in the two nations’ common origin as British
colonies. These ties were strengthened as the two nations
fought together in the Australian New Zealand Army Corp
(ANZAC) in places like Gallipoli in World War I. This
relationship evolved into what is known as the ANZAC
spirit of close defense cooperation. The close economic,
people-to-people, and cultural ties, as well as a shared love
of rugby, cricket, and other sport, further reinforce bilateral
relations between these two states.
New Zealand and
Australia hope to create a “Trans-Tasman Bubble” that
would allow their citizens to travel to each country without
quarantine restrictions related to COVID-19.
New Zealand has played a key role in promoting peace,
stability, development, and the environment in the South
Pacific. It played a key role in, including by promoting security in TimorLeste, Timor-Leste,
Bougainville, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.
New New
Zealand is working with Australia and other nations in
the the
South Pacific on the Pacific Agreement on Closer
Economic Relations (PACER)–Plus. , a free trade accord.
New Zealand also
provides disaster assistance to the region as it did to Fiji
following the February 2016 Cyclone Winston. New
Zealand supports the Pacific Island’s Forum and sustainable
economic development, including for sustainable fisheries
in the South Pacificand
supports the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s principal
multilateral organization. New Zealand has protested
Japan’s
decision to resume whaling in the Southern Ocean,
and has
set aside 15% of New Zealand’s Exclusive
Economic Zone
for the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary.
In February 2018 Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s
government announced a reset of New Zealand’s policy
toward the Pacific that is driven in part by a view that “the
Pacific has become an increasingly contested strategic
space, under which New Zealand has to work harder to
maintain our positive influence.” In discussing the Pacific
reset, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston
Peters called for a
reenergized approach and stated, “There
has never been a
time since 1945 when Australia and New
Zealand need to
work together more closely in the Pacific.”
Relations with China
Trade is at the core of New Zealand’s relationship with
China, its largest trading partner. New Zealand’s goods
exports to China quadrupled
since the signing of a bilateral
Free Trade Agreement
between the two countries in 2008.
Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang visited New Zealand in March
2017 reportedly to
discuss strengthening trade through the discuss an FTA upgrade and
the One
Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative, which is now
known as
the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). On March 27, 2017,
New Zealand signed a memorandum of understanding with
China on China’s OBOR initiative. In 2015, New Zealand
became a founding member of the China-led Asia
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Diplomatic relations between New Zealand and China have
become strained over the past yearsomewhat strained, in part due to rising
concerns concerns
about Chinese influence in New Zealand and its
region. In November 2018 New Zealand’s Government
region.
Prime Minister Ardern made her first official visit to China
in April 2019. In November 2018, New Zealand’s
Government Communications Security Bureau stopped a
New Zealand
telecommunications provider from using Huawei
equipment. Prime Minister Ardern made her first official
visit to China in April 2019. During the visit the two
nations agreed to move forward with negotiations to
upgrade their bilateral free trade agreement which went into
effect in 2008. A key challenge for New Zealand will be to
balance growing concerns over China’s influence in the
South Pacific and in New Zealand with China’s role as New
Zealand’s largest export telecommunications provider from using
Huawei equipment. In May 2020, Winston Peters expressed
his view that Taiwan should be able to rejoin the World
Health Organization. China responded by warning that this
position risked damaging relations. A key challenge for
New Zealand is balancing concerns over China’s growing
influence with China’s role as New Zealand’s largest export
destination.
Bruce Vaughn, Specialist in Asian Affairs
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IF10389
New Zealand
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