New Zealand's Defence Diplomacy in Asia
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ResearchArchive at Victoria University of Wellington “NEITHER STAUNCH FRIENDS NOR CONFIRMED FOES” NEW ZEALAND’S DEFENCE DIPLOMACY IN ASIA BY JUSTIN FRIS A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in International Relations Victoria University of Wellington 2013 ii iii Abstract Read a recent Defence White Paper of any number of countries or look at the range of foreign relations one country has with others in the contemporary age, and one is likely to come across the term ‘defence diplomacy.’ The traditional function of armed forces has been to prepare for and undertake the use of force. As part of this role, armed forces have cooperated with those of other nations to enhance security by countering or deterring potential enemies. In the post-Cold War era however, a new form of defence relations has emerged; in contrast to, yet supplementing their traditional role, armed forces have been employed in building cooperative relationships between former and potential future foes. This shift is explained by the concept of defence diplomacy; the concept identified by Andrew Cottey and Anthony Forster that armed forces have a peacetime role in pursuit of broader foreign and security policy goals. Recognising that defence cooperation activities have a long history, Cottey and Forster differentiated defence diplomacy between ‘old,’ meaning those traditional defence cooperation activities aimed at allies and friendly states, and ‘new,’ meaning defence cooperation aimed at potential or former enemies. New Zealand, like many other countries, has used the term since the 1990s to describe those aspects of the diplomatic relationship, specifically peacetime cooperative activities, performed by the Ministry of Defence and the New Zealand Defence Force with the armed forces of other nations. This thesis explores the origins of defence diplomacy and the adoption of the concept by New Zealand. It looks at the way in which New Zealand has developed and managed its ‘old’ defence diplomacy in Asia through examining the example of the Five Power Defence Arrangements. It then explores New Zealand’s ‘new’ defence diplomacy with what are considered here as “non-like-minded” states such as China, Viet Nam and Indonesia. Through these three case studies, the thesis examines key dilemmas and problems of defence diplomacy that have arisen in the development of these key relationships. The thesis then concludes with an analysis of New Zealand’s defence diplomacy according to the framework established by Cottey and Forster. iv v Acknowledgements I wish to thank my supervisors Dr David Capie and Professor Robert Ayson for their ideas, research material, support and encouraging words. I would like to thank all of those who gave their time to allow me to interview them for material. Former Defence Minister Dr Wayne Mapp, former Head of International Defence Relations Branch Paul Sinclair, former Commandant of the NZDF Command and Staff College Shaun Fogarty, former Defence Secretaries John McKinnon and Gerald Hensley, and former Ambassadors Tony Browne and Chris Elder all generously gave me their time to patiently respond to my questions. There were several others, being serving officials, whose interviews helped immensely but who could only speak freely on the condition of anonymity. I wish to express my thanks to the staff of the Defence Library and Dr Mark Rolls of Waikato University for their assistance in finding research material. I also acknowledge the Victoria University Human Ethics Committee who approved the interview aspects of my data collection. I am grateful to Neil Robertson for arranging access to the files of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Archives New Zealand staff were helpful in finding and retrieving files. I am indebted to the New Zealand Army, and later the New Zealand Defence Force, who continued to support my research through the Educational Study Assistance programme. Finally I wish to thank Vern Bennett for being the first to encourage me to undertake a thesis back in 2008. vi vii Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 1 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 3 Thesis Outline ............................................................................................................. 4 CHAPTER TWO DEFENCE DIPLOMACY IN CONTEXT ....................................... 7 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 7 Origins of defence diplomacy ...................................................................................... 9 Defence Diplomacy is born ....................................................................................... 13 Britain’s Defence Diplomacy after September 2001 ............................................... 16 Wider adoption of the concept ................................................................................... 18 Debates and critiques ................................................................................................. 19 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 24 CHAPTER THREE NEW ZEALAND’S DEFENCE DIPLOMACY IN ASIA........... 27 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 27 The origins of New Zealand defence diplomacy ........................................................ 27 New Zealand Defence Diplomacy Activities.............................................................. 35 High level ties ........................................................................................................ 36 Defence Attachés ................................................................................................... 37 Port calls ............................................................................................................... 38 Training and education .......................................................................................... 38 Exercises ............................................................................................................... 40 New Zealand’s ‘old’ Defence Diplomacy – The Five Power Defence Arrangements . 40 New Zealand’s ‘new’ Defence Diplomacy ................................................................. 45 Multilateral cooperation ........................................................................................ 48 Issues and Dilemmas of New Zealand’s Defence Diplomacy. .................................... 51 Balancing cooperation between ‘old’ and ‘new’ .................................................... 51 Bureaucratic rivalry and primacy .......................................................................... 52 Conditionality ........................................................................................................ 54 Reciprocity ............................................................................................................ 55 Clash of purposes .................................................................................................. 56 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 57 CHAPTER FOUR NEW ZEALAND’S DEFENCE RELATIONS WITH THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ........................................................................... 59 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 59 The development of Sino - New Zealand Defence Diplomacy ................................... 61 The purpose of Sino – New Zealand Defence Diplomacy .......................................... 63 Sino – New Zealand Defence Diplomacy in Practice ................................................. 65 Strategic exchanges ............................................................................................... 66 Functional and educational exchanges .................................................................. 70 Port calls ............................................................................................................... 73 Multilateral cooperation ........................................................................................ 75 Issues in Sino – New Zealand Defence Diplomacy .................................................... 76 Conditionality ........................................................................................................ 77 Prospects for Sino NZ defence relations .................................................................... 78 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 79 viii CHAPTER FIVE NEW ZEALAND’S DEFENCE RELATIONS WITH VIET NAM .81 Introduction and the development of Viet Nam – New Zealand Relations...................81 The Development of New Zealand’s Defence Diplomacy with Viet Nam ...................83 Purposes of Viet Nam – New Zealand Defence Diplomacy ........................................86 Strategic Exchanges ...............................................................................................87