Pacific countries need tailor-made military training

WELKINGTON – As the U.S., China and other powers vie for strategic influence in Pacific Island militaries, New Zealand’s military chief told The Associated Press that not all of the larger countries willing to provide support are actually delivering what small island states find most useful.

New Zealand, which has trained Pacific soldiers for decades, has little military power and has instead long built its reputation on a kind of lowly soft power when its forces are deployed overseas. It has earned trust by encouraging open relationships and “diversity of thought” among its training partners in the South Pacific, Maj. Gen. Rose King told the AP in an interview Friday at defense headquarters in Wellington. The top military official, appointed in June, is the first woman to lead a branch of the New Zealand military.

“One of the things we’re hearing from some Pacific countries is that a lot of people are offering help, but it’s not necessarily the help that they want or need,” she said. King’s comments come amid an explosion in what she called “great power competition” for influence in the Pacific, with the vast oceanic region of small island and atoll states becoming one of the world’s most fraught sites of geopolitical struggle.

China’s influence in the region alarms the West

King did not name countries. New Zealand’s military leaders have a nonpolitical role and are not allowed to make public pronouncements on government policy. That includes decisions on foreign affairs or military deployments. But New Zealand’s 2023 defense policy statement cites China’s assertive push across the Pacific in the past decade, bolstering security deals and agreements to train or equip military and police personnel in a growing list of friendly countries. That has so alarmed Western powers that it has prompted the U.S. and Australia to unveil their own training measures.

Small army, but strong in forging relationships

New Zealand’s military numbers a few thousand for a remote island nation of 5 million, with little military power or frontline fighting in modern times. Military spending is minimal, even for a small country. But defense analysts say larger powers could learn from New Zealand how to forge better relations in the Pacific.

“The US and Australia don’t always get those personal relationships right, they don’t know how to sit down and listen properly,” said Blake Johnson of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank. The US sometimes struggled to scale down its proposals to suit the needs of the Pacific, he said.

“And the way China conducts its policy is different to the way Australia and New Zealand conduct its policy,” Johnson said. “They tend to be a bit tougher in their response.”

However, New Zealand had strong indigenous cultural ties to the Pacific, understood small-scale operations and had the flexibility to adapt. “It would be great if New Zealand could shout a bit louder to the other partners,” he said.

But New Zealand’s small military footprint also brings challenges. King inherited a military that has been described within the Defence Force as fragile and hollow. Attrition rates for the service have fallen from a peak of just over 17% in 2022, but remain at over 9% — high among peer countries.

Vehicles and buildings are dilapidated and some barracks where soldiers live with their families are out of use due to black mold. New Zealand does not have a strong military service culture among the public and as a result politicians do not need to impress voters with large defense budgets.

Military spending fell this year to 0.9% of gross domestic product from 1% last year. With New Zealand’s public sector facing severe cuts, the military is also facing cuts to help plug the deficit.

“Part of me is really proud that most New Zealanders don’t necessarily see the same threats that I see for our country,” King said. “But yes, there are challenges to that as well.”

When she and her husband, who is also in the military, spent time in America, they were surprised that strangers thanked them for their service. “That doesn’t happen in New Zealand in general,” King said. “I think there’s an opportunity for us to share our story more.”

More women in the ranks of the New Zealand military

King downplays her status as the first woman to lead a military service in New Zealand. She joined the army in 1991, but came at a time when she could not serve in all parts of the military because she was a woman.

Now, 15 percent of serving military personnel are women. “I hope that number will certainly increase,” King said, though she hesitated to name her planned measures to increase it.

Military forces worldwide face other cultural challenges to which New Zealand is not immune. The difficulty of detecting those with extremist views entering service, for example, particularly white supremacists, has plagued countries such as the US.

“I’m confident that we’re doing our best to make sure we get the right people in place,” King said.

Changes in the world also have consequences for the New Zealand military

Despite the country’s remote location and small military footprint, New Zealand’s military is under strain on its resources and personnel, and there is uncertainty about how it will prepare for the future. Interstate conflict — once all but eliminated — is increasing in the Russia-Ukraine war and in the Middle East, while climate change ravages New Zealand and the Pacific, with the military facing growing demands for humanitarian aid.

“Climate change will not only become more frequent, but it will also happen on a much larger scale. Everything that happens in the Pacific Ocean will have consequences for us,” King said.

Issues like transnational crime show that the current threat is not simply a matter of “war or no war,” she said.

“I think it depends on what New Zealand is,” King said, noting that her country is a small, trade-oriented nation at the bottom of the world.

“If we don’t have the international rules-based order that we have now, and if that is called into question, then we are challenged as a nation,” she said.