Asia-Pacific country considering joining US military bloc

“We have expressed our desire to know and learn more about pillar II of AUKUS and what opportunities there might be for New Zealand to contribute to that,” declared the country’s Defense Minister, Judith Collins, during a press conference.

According to the senior official, “It’s something we’re certainly looking at.“These are decisions that our Cabinet makes in a timely manner and with all the information,” Collins said in response to the question of whether New Zealand “is closer to taking a position on joining Pillar II of AUKUS.”

“Work more closely”

In February, New Zealand was reported to be increasing its interest in the non-nuclear pillar of AUKUS, amid growing Chinese influence in the Pacific and concerns about a “reconfiguring world.” At that time, his Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Winston Peters, and his Defense Minister, Judith Collins, traveled to Melbourne to meet with his Australian counterparts from Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, and Defense, Richard Marles.

Regarding the meeting, Marles noted: “We have agreed to work much more closely in terms of building interoperability and interchangeability between our two defense forces.” In addition, he announced that an Australian delegation would travel to New Zealand to brief the country’s officials on the second pillar of the AUKUS alliance.

For his part, Collins assured that New Zealand could offer space and technological experience. In the same sense, Wong urged “to work better together” so that the influence of both countries in the region and the world “be greater together than separately”. They also stated that both parties consider each other “the closest friends.”