New Zealand’s Defence Minister Judith Collins signed
two new defence and security pacts with Japan during a visit
to Tokyo on December 19. Collins signed the agreements,
which upgrade the countries’ bilateral and multilateral
military activities, with Japan’s Foreign Affairs Minister
Toshimitsu Motegi.
Collins’ Japan visit capped a
year in which the far-right National Party-led government
further integrated New Zealand, a minor imperialist power,
with the expanding US-led alliance for war in the Pacific.
In August she welcomed US FBI director Kash Patel to open
the agency’s new office in Wellington, which he made clear
is part of US war preparations against China.
During a
trip to Washington in October Collins, who is also
responsible for NZ’s Security Intelligence Service
agencies, visited CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. She
met CIA head John Ratcliffe and other officials, posting
photos on social media with her counterpart, President
Trump’s (now) Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Signing
the military logistics deal with Japan, the Acquisition and
Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), Collins declared: “Our
forces already work well together, and this agreement will
create the conditions for even more seamless cooperation.”
Collins told the Japan Times that the countries’ bilateral
defence ties “continue to go from strength to
strength.”
The ACSA establishes how logistical
support will be managed when the NZ Defence Force (NZDF) and
the Self-Defence Forces of Japan operate together. This
could include refueling at sea using the supply ship HMNZS
Aotearoa, or provision of food or medical supplies during
joint activities. “New Zealand is stepping up on the world
stage, and this agreement will ultimately strengthen our
interoperability and ability to work closely with our
partners,” Collins declared.
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The second document,
the Information Security Agreement (ISA), provides the legal
framework and procedures for handling classified information
and to facilitate sharing a wider range of information
securely. Collins said the ISA will enable “greater shared
understanding of emerging security risks and threats.” As
the strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific grows
“increasingly challenging,” she said, Japan and New
Zealand must coordinate more closely “in areas of mutual
security interest.”
The agreements are aimed
squarely at North Korea and above all China. The Japan Times
observed they are key to expanding the “scope and scale”
of joint military activities and to “boost joint training
exercises and enhance interoperability.” Collins pointed
to the growth of joint engagements such as naval patrols in
the East and South China seas, often with the navies of
“like-minded countries” including the Philippines,
Australia and the United States.
New Zealand is the
10th country Japan has reached such a pact with after the
signing of a similar one in The Hague on December 18 to
promote “closer cooperation” with the Armed Forces of
the Netherlands, again covering the reciprocal provision of
supplies and services.
Japan’s miliary alignments
accompany its remilitarization and involvement in US-led war
preparations against China. The Japanese government aims to
double military spending by 2027. This includes acquiring
offensive weaponry capable of reaching China, in a clear
breach of the “Pacifist Clause” of Japan’s post-World
War II Constitution. Tokyo claims it has the right to engage
in so-called “collective self-defence,” preparing to
join wars alongside allies.
The agreements upgrade a
deal signed by NZ Prime Minster Christopher Luxon in Tokyo
in June 2024. Luxon and then Japanese Prime Minister Fumio
Kishida signed an intelligence sharing pact and agreed to
increase joint military “activities and exercises,
including in the area of maritime security.” Luxon
announced the deployment of HMNZS Aotearoa as part of the
encirclement of North Korea and significantly boosted NZ’s
contribution to the Korean Demilitarised Zone from 12
soldiers to 53.
New Zealand was soon involved in
escalating provocations against Beijing. In September 2024
the HMNZS Aotearoa joined the Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami
and Australia’s HMAS Sydney in a sail-though in the
sensitive Taiwan Strait. The vessels were taking part in
naval exercises in the South China Sea, which has been
transformed by the US and its allies into another dangerous
flashpoint for conflict with China.
In October this
year, a NZ Air Force Poseidon aircraft took part for the
first time in Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force-led
Annual Exercise. In November, following another transit of
the Taiwan Strait, the HMNZS Aotearoa carried out
“surveillance and deterrence” activities in
international waters of the East China and Yellow Seas,
monitoring UN sanctions on North Korea. According to the
NZDF, the Aotearoa was “shadowed” by seven Chinese
warships, with Beijing clearly regarding the NZ exercise as
a provocation.
Collins declared that transits of the
Taiwan Strait were carried out “in accordance with
international law and best practice. By doing this, we are
demonstrating our commitment to the international
rules-based system in our near region—the Indo-Pacific.”
In fact the area is not in NZ’s “near region,” but
some 9,000 kilometres away, on China’s doorstep. The
so-called “rules-based system” invoked by Collins is the
set of post-World War II “rules” established by
Washington to ensure its global hegemony.
The Japan
Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) regularly conducts
deployments across a vast area of the Indo-Pacific. In
August, two JMSDF vessels, the destroyers JS Ise and JS
Suzunami, arrived in Wellington for a three-day diplomatic
visit, the first time any Japanese naval vessel had visited
New Zealand’s capital in nearly 90 years.
The
developments accompany a major expansion of NZ’s military
presence in South East Asia. In April Collins visited the
Philippines to sign a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement
strengthening military cooperation. Washington and its
allies, including Japan and Australia, are preparing the
Philippines to serve as a staging ground for conflict over
Taiwan.
The NZDF recently participated in the massive
Australian-led Talisman Sabre exercise, training with the
US, Australia, Japan and others to increase preparedness to
operate together. A NZDF contingent also joined Bersama
Shield, an annual exercise in the Malayan Peninsula
involving militaries from the UK, Australia, Malaysia and
Singapore.
In May, Hegseth declared that China posed
an “imminent” threat and demanded that US allies in Asia
prepare for war over Taiwan by 2027. New Zealand’s defence
budget will increase to $NZ12 billion ($US6.92 billion) over
four years, including $NZ9 billion of new spending, to reach
2 percent of GDP by 2032–2033.
Chris Penk, minister
for Veterans Affairs, told the Bradbury Group podcast on
December 16 that he was “proud” to be part of a
government that is “preparing for World War III that may
or may not come.”
The show’s “liberal” host
Martyn Bradbury openly supports the militarist spend-up, as
does the main opposition Labour Party and the union
bureaucracy. It can only be carried through with deepening
attacks on public services and living standards of the
working class.
Defence chiefs also told a
parliamentary committee last month that virtually the entire
ageing naval fleet must be replaced by 2035 and called for a
huge increase in recruitment into the armed forces. After
Australia’s Labor government selected Japan’s advanced
Mogami-class frigate for its navy upgrade, Wellington has
expressed interest in the warship, which would provide full
“interoperability” with both navies.
Japan and New
Zealand are meanwhile also both seeking entry into “Pillar
Two” of the AUKUS pact involving the US, Britain and
Australia, which would give them access to its enhanced
military technical capabilities
program.
