New Zealand wants in on defense pact with US, UK, and Australia – Yahoo News

New Zealand, a U.S. ally with a reputation for economic dependence on China and conflict avoidance, wants to participate in a landmark trilateral defense deal between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

And cyber is one area that wed certainly be interested in, but theres no detail yet so we will be looking for detail, New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia Annette King told Australian media this week.

That prospect could fortify cooperation with New Zealand, despite Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns aversion to the nuclear submarine technology at the heart of the AUKUS deal, as the pact is known. The current members of the deal expect the pact to allow an expansion of U.S. military presence in the region and an upgrade of various capabilities across the U.S. alliance network in the region.

AUKUS is not designed to be in any way exclusive ... It's a first step in terms of industrial development between like-minded partners, British General Nicholas Carter, the U.K.s chief of defense staff, told the Center for a New American Security when asked about Japans potential involvement last week. If there were opportunities there, then that's the direction of travel it would go in. The same applies to Five Eyes and also to other like-minded countries.

'INDISSOLUBLE BONDS': NUCLEAR SUBMARINE DEAL FORTIFIES U.S.-AUSTRALIA SECURITY TIES AGAINST ECONOMIC PRESSURE FROM CHINA

New Zealands position within Five Eyes has appeared unsteady recently, as Arderns government downplayed the prospect of an alliance of democracies to manage threats from China and urged Australian officials to show respect to Beijing. A senior British lawmaker concluded soon after that New Zealand had just left large parts of the Five Eyes community, even as Australian officials bore the brunt of Chinas economic pressure due to Canberras call for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

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New Zealand and Australia were in a different space to begin with, and this has perhaps just made that look sharper again, Victoria University professor David Capie said last month. I think this alliance underlines that theyre going in very different directions.

The new interest from King, New Zealands top envoy to Australia, coincides with a State Department decision to launch a new Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy.

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This will integrate the core security, economic, and values components of our cyber agenda, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Monday. "We also plan to establish a new special envoy for critical and emerging technology to lead the immediate technology diplomacy agenda with our allies, partners, and across the range of multilateral fora.

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Tags: News, Foreign Policy, National Security, Australia, New Zealand, State Department, Cyber, United Kingdom

Original Author: Joel Gehrke

Original Location: New Zealand wants in on defense pact with US, UK, and Australia

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New Zealand wants in on defense pact with US, UK, and Australia - Yahoo News