I checked with Google the other day, my question being, “How many countries have a secretary of war?”. The response didn’t take AI very long. There is only one country currently with a cabinet level position titled, “Secretary of War”, this being the United States. All other countries focus on defence. With the emphasis on war, it is not surprising that during this presidential term the USA has bombed Iran to bits, invaded Venezuela to kidnap their elected leader, blown up boats in international waters that it claims were carrying drugs but of which there was no real proof, and threatened to acquire by invasion, both Greenland and Cuba. Quite an active display of aggression, and the USA President is miffed that he wasn’t awarded the Nobel Peace prize!
Since the second world war the USA has been predominant in seven wars, including the current one in Iran. We have been very friendly and helped in six of those; wars in Korea, Vietnam and the middle east. We have lost almost 100 of our personnel in these wars. On the other side of the equation, the USA has lost no personnel supporting us in our wars, primarily because we don’t declare war on anybody. So, when their Secretary of War says we are free loading, I just look at the numbers which do not lie. Who do you think you are kidding Uncle Sam?
Increasing our expenditure on the weapons of war should not be at the discretion of another party, it is our decision as our Prime Minister has said. What we spend our money on should also be at our discretion. I recall about 20 years ago we purchased over 100 light armoured vehicles that were of no use to us in New Zealand or in the Pacific Islands. They were primarily deployed in Afghanistan to assist the American efforts there, so in effect we made a significant purchase for the benefit of the USA, not our people. Our sphere of interest is a large one, mainly consisting of water. It stretches from the Antarctic to the southern Pacific Islands. Our defence forces and their weaponry should be suitable for and concentrated in this area.
There will be people who feel we should help our great mate the USA. Of the great powers, the USA doesn’t really act like a mate. They cancelled the ANZUS defence treaty because of our anti-nuclear policies. They refuse to enter into a free trade agreement with us. They charge tariffs on anything we export their way. The biggest threat of major war currently is over Taiwan with China wishing to reclaim what used to be their island of Formosa and the USA stating they will fight to prevent that. China, as we should all know, is quite a good friend of New Zealand with a free trade agreement between our two countries being in place for several years. Economically, China is our best buddy, and it would not be in our best interests to join a lower-level mate of ours in a war against them, or to even indicate we might.
In my view we must concentrate our defence spending and activities on our sphere of interest, but we also need to think about the shipping lanes to and from New Zealand, as these must be kept open and functioning properly. This demands two major actions for our country. The first is to allow nuclear powered commercial ships into our ports. Only a few nuclear-powered cargo vessels have been built but development is well underway for the next generation of commercial ships with the Jiangnan Shipyard in China unveiling a design for a 25,000-container nuclear vessel and the major shipping companies exploring Small Modular Reactor designs. Within ten years such vessels will be knocking on our doors, and we need to be prepared to accommodate them.
If we are to keep our shipping lanes open, it would seem sensible to have a powerful buddy involved with them. The USA is not that buddy as its attention and interests are northern hemisphere based. However, China has already expressed interest in having us involved with their Belt and Road Initiative. As part of this initiative, China is building a railway between the Chancay Port in Peru to the eastern coast of South America in Brazil. This will greatly improve access between Asia and the economies of South America. What would help this route, however, is to have a hub in the South Pacific. Why not Auckland? Why not be proactive and commence discussions with China to build a new port for Auckland in the Firth of Thames. This would provide a lot of good for the country, including more sea views for Auckland latte drinkers.
So, Mr Hesgeth (USA Secretary of War) please do not accuse us of freeloading when in fact the opposite appears to be true. Partnerships should be a two-way thing and the way things look now is, that China understands this far more than your administration does.
