A top United States diplomat says New Zealand could eventually become a member of the AUKUS defence alliance, talking up this country's strategic importance at end of a week-long tour around the Pacific.
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman says New Zealand is a critical partner in the blue Pacific Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday and described relations between the countries as "incredibly valuable".
AUKUS was focused on nuclear powered submarines and was taking all of the energy of the three partners because of the size of the project, Sherman told Morning Report.
"We've always said that going forward as we look at other emerging technologies and what that may mean for everyone's security in the world, that there may be scope for others to join so certainly if that time comes, New Zealand is a country with whom we would have conversation."
New Zealand was improving its capability in the Pacific region with the P8 Poseidon aircraft.
The country had to make its own decisions about its defence budget and capabilities it needed, Sherman said.
But, she said, it was a critical partner in the blue Pacific.
Is the US concerned by an increased presence and competition from China in the Pacific?
"I think the Pacific Island Forum has made clear that it's very critical that we are all cognisant of the security and the sovereignty of each of the Pacific islands," Sherman said.
Her understanding from the prime minister of Solomon Islands was that he had assured his colleagues that there would not be a permanent military base built by China.
"That said, which I think is really important, is that the United States is not asking countries to choose between the United States and China but we are asking that the rules based international order, which was created at the end of World War II ... that that same order be available to every other country."
The order helped China to rise to the power it was today, she said.
"No country should decide another country's political future."
The United States would continue to watch the situation in Solomon Islands very closely, she said.
"No country should decide another country's political future" - US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman
Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan
US Speaker Nancy Pelosi met Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in a visit that was strongly condemned by China.
She was the most senior US politician in 25 years to visit Taiwan, and said her delegation had gone to make it "unequivocally clear" that the US would not "abandon" the island.
In response China halted co-operation with the US in several key areas including climate change, military talks and efforts to combat international crime. It also fired missiles near Taiwan, and drilled as part of its biggest-ever military exercise in the seas around Taiwan.
Sherman she said thought China's response was "escalating".
It was Pelosi's decision to visit Taiwan, Sherman said.
With co-equal branches of government, the congress gets to make its own decisions, she said.
"The president cannot tell a member of congress where to travel or not travel or what to do.
"Whether you agree with her decision or disagree with her decision, that fact is, the response of the People's Republic of China has been completely disproportionate to a member of congress visiting."
Many members of congress had visited in the past and the US had a 'One China' policy - "we do not support the independence of Taiwan".