Chinese naval power is growing with every passing month. The People’s Republic of China is currently engaged in an ambitious shipbuilding program that will soon give it the power to challenge America in the Western Pacific. This will demand a response from Pacific nations friendly to American interests, such as New Zealand. This essay explains.
At time of writing, New Zealand doesn’t allow nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed vessels to dock in our ports. This is a consequence of the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987, which prohibits any nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed naval vessel from entering New Zealand waters. This means that no nuclear submarines can dock for resupply or maintenance in New Zealand ports.
New Zealand’s nuclear-free stance was introduced by the scum David Lange, the same man who introduced the neoliberalism that has now destroyed our economy. This opportunistic grifter managed to fool New Zealand into thinking the move was an expression of national sovereignty (of course, he continued to follow America’s lead on the War on Drugs, a policy that directly harmed the New Zealand people).
Successive New Zealand politicians have continued this policy, seemingly under the delusion that New Zealand exists in a bubble separate from the rest of the world. This delusion holds that the geopolitical concerns of our fellow Anzacs magically don’t apply to us. The scum Jacinda Ardern has already declared that Australian nuclear submarines will be banned from entering New Zealand waters.
The strategic reality of New Zealand’s position is that, as a sparsely-populated archipelago in the middle of a gigantic ocean, we are dependent on the support of continental powers to maintain our sovereignty. This was true during World War Two, when we were entirely dependent on American naval power to defeat the threat posed by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and it will be true in the next major war, when we will be entirely dependent on allied naval power to defeat the threat posed by China’s PLAN.
During World War Two, we were happy to do the right thing, and allow American forces to base themselves in New Zealand. At the time, there was a very real possibility that both Australia and New Zealand might have been overrun by Japan. After the Japanese threat was defeated, New Zealand relaxed – too much.
From 2030 onwards, there will be a very real threat of Australia and New Zealand being overrun by China. The Chinese will, by then, have a similar force projection capability to that of 1940s Japan. The strategic imperative to seize agricultural lands will be even greater for China than it was for Japan. If China can break through the first island chain and capture Taiwan, New Zealand will find itself threatened more starkly than at any time since 1942.
Looking forward to the period 2030-2040, the nuclear-free policy seems like a pointless show of virtue signalling – and one that could cost us dearly. Conflict between China and America over control of the South China Sea seems inevitable. Should it happen, New Zealand will be close to the centre of the action, just as we were the last time an Asian power swept through the Western Pacific.
Given the reality of this threat, the way forward for New Zealand’s security is clear: we must abandon our nuclear-free stance, and allow nuclear submarines from other Anglo nations to dock in our ports. The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987 should be immediately repealed, and replaced with an agreement that New Zealand will do everything we can to support American, British and Australian naval supremacy in the Western Pacific.
In fact, this essay proposes a step beyond that of merely letting nuclear vessels dock in our ports: New Zealand ought to build a customised dock specifically for American, British and Australian nuclear submarines. We ought to liaise with these allies to determine the specifications that would best assist with the resupply and maintenance of these submarines.
If China ever breaks through the first island chain, it will be the threat of nuclear annihilation from submarine-launched ballistic missiles that keeps New Zealand safe from further encroachment. We ought to do everything we can to maintain this defensive threat. So when it comes to American, British and Australian nuclear submarines, VJM Publishing says: let them dock!
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