US warship to visit New Zealand after three-decade stand-off
July 21, 2016
US Vice President Joe Biden confirmed that an American warship will visit Auckland later in the year - the first visit of its kind since New Zealand became nuclear-free in 1987. The US won't have to confirm whether the ship has any nuclear facilities, but only that the ship complies with local law, according to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.
Key said that Washington and Wellington were respecting each other's position:
"It's not a victory for one side or a defeat for another. It's a sense that our relationship is more important [than this row]," he told reporters. "We've dealt with the matter. It's somewhat historic now."
Key added he would, however, have to be satisfied on advice from his officials stating that any visiting ship was nuclear free.
Vice President Biden meanwhile said the ship would be sent to New Zealand to join the Royal New Zealand Navy's 75th birthday celebrations.
"It will be yet another expression of our close and cooperative relationship," he told reporters."
Activists have pledged to disrupt the visit; a group called Auckland Peace Action announced it would send a "peace flotilla" to meet the US navy in November.
Cold War-era disagreements
New Zealand and the US stood together as allies during World War II, but ties between the two countries on opposite ends of the Pacific Ocean soured when New Zealand declared itself nuclear-free in the 1980s, at the height of the Cold War.
Since 1986, no US naval ship has been allowed to dock in New Zealand due to the US policy of neither confirming nor denying a vessel's nuclear capabilities. The row resulted in the US suspending the three-way ANZUS defense treaty, which also involved Australia. Relations only between began to improve when New Zealand decided to contribute troops to the US-led mission in Afghanistan, ultimately resulting in the two countries signing a new defense pact in 2012.
ss/kms (AFP, dpa)