New Zealand is increasingly affected by events and tensions beyond our immediate region. As a consequence of our global interests, we have an important stake in upholding a rules-based international order. Threats to this order cut across borders.
Cyberspace has brought New Zealand economically and socially closer to the world, but this connectivity also carries increased risks. Cyber threats are growing markedly, both in quantity and variety. They can emanate from anywhere and target any of us. Countries must recognise their shared interests in cyberspace, and respond effectively to malicious activity.
Terrorism is an issue that reaches across the globe and affects many nations, including China. We share the international community's outrage at Daesh's brutal actions. New Zealand is not immune to terrorism – our security agencies must monitor a sizeable number of supporters of Daesh within New Zealand, and some have travelled to fight in Syria. The New Zealand Government has responded to this threat. We are contributing humanitarian assistance, and recently accepted an intake of 750 Syrian refugees displaced by the fighting. Significantly, the New Zealand Defence Force is working in partnership with the Australian Defence Force to support a military training mission in Iraq. To date 1600 Iraqi Armed Forces personnel have passed through our training programme. We are proud of the contribution our troops are making towards a more secure Iraq.
In addition to terrorism and cyber threats, the rules based international order is coming under increased pressure from strategic rivalry. We have observed greater willingness of countries to get involved in conflicts outside of the UN system and international law. While there is low risk of a major interstate conflict, this risk has been rising over the last five years. A rules based system is particularly important for ensuring continued freedom of navigation and collective maritime security.
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New Zealand and Trade
As I’ve said, New Zealand is a maritime nation. And like China we rely heavily on free access to major shipping routes and sea lanes of communication for our own economic prosperity. Our national security interests stretch as far as our trade routes do, from those to our principal and closest trading partner Australia, to those as far afield as Europe, here in North Asia, and to the Americas. Because New Zealand's interests in the maritime domain are truly global, our contribution to preserving these interests must also extend globally. For example, in the Gulf of Aden, New Zealand has been contributing to the fight against piracy off the Horn of Africa.
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Positive Security Factors in the Asia Pacific
While I have covered today many of the challenges to regional and global security, I believe that overall the positive factors outweigh the negatives. Our region is more economically integrated that ever. Even in the global financial crisis, countries chose to stimulate their economies without returning to economic protectionism. In fact, free trade has expanded since the downturn. As I said earlier, free trade pacts, including the Trans Pacific Partnership, are crucial guarantees of economic prosperity, increased security and peace through interdependence.
New Zealand has welcomed the US rebalance into the Asia-Pacific. We have benefited from this move, and consider the rebalance a positive factor for regional security. We do not see our defence relationships with the United States and China as mutually exclusive. We believe that the United States and China want the same thing for the Asia-Pacific – peace and prosperity. This is New Zealand’s desire as well, and we will work with all parties to achieve this outcome. To do this, it is crucial to maintain inclusive dialogue mechanisms, ensuring that all nations are well integrated into a rules-based international order. This will allow us to address some of the region's most pressing collective challenges, such as the potential for strategic rivalry around territorial disputes.
South China Sea
Economic interdependence, and our mutual stake in maritime trade, provides clear incentives to manage maritime and territorial disputes peacefully. This must be matched with equal measures to build an open and inclusive regional order where security, freedom of navigation, and overflight, and open trade routes are managed in accordance with international laws and norms.
The South China Sea has been a prominent issue in regional security discussions this year. It is of particular importance to New Zealand, reliant as we are on seaborne trade and the security and freedom of navigation for our economic prosperity and well-being. Over half of New Zealand's maritime trade passes through the South China Sea. While we take no position on the various claims in the South China Sea, New Zealand opposes actions that undermine peace and erode trust. We are concerned that developments have outstripped regional efforts to manage tensions. We call on all claimant states to take steps to reduce tensions. We want to see swift progress in fully implementing the Declaration of Conduct and rapid conclusion of the Code of Conduct negotiations to build a better framework for managing activity in the area.
The role of international law and international institutions is important in finding long-terms solutions to these disputes. New Zealand supports the right of states to access international dispute settlement mechanisms as well as solving disputes through bilateral negotiations. It is important that we respect the outcome of such processes.I addressed this issue when I spoke to the Shangri-La Dialogue in May.
All big countries are made much bigger, in every sense of the word, by recognising their strengths and confidently sharing and defusing concerns of smaller countries. By recognising these concerns and seeking dialogue in the settlement of issues, it is the mark of a big country. As we would say in New Zealand, it confers what in the indigenous Māori language we call ‘mana,’ or respect, for other nations.
