U.S. Chiefs acknowledge A.N.Z.U.S. framework

Press, 8 February 1986, Page 5

U.S. Chiefs acknowledge A.N.Z.U.S. framework

NZPA staff correspondent Washington The A.N.Z.U.S. treaty continues to provide a framework for allied cooperation in the Pacific, in spite of differences with New Zealand, the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff say. In their military posture statement for 1986 they say the growing ability of the Soviet Union to project military power in the Pacific “poses a significant threat to United States and allied interests.”

The Joint Chiefs of Staff is the main military advisory body to the President It is composed of the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the commandant of the Marine Corps.

A.N.Z.U.S. continued to provide a “framework for allied co-operation in the western and southern Pacific, current differences with the New Zealand Government notwithstanding,” they say.

The United States Defence Secretary, Mr Caspar Weinberger, who expressed strong concern about expanding Soviet military power in the Pacific in his separate annual report to the House of Representatives, had stronger words for New Zealand.

Mr Weinberger said A.N.Z.U.S. was “under severe strain because of New Zealand’s port access policies.” In the report, presented to Congress yesterday, he said the treaty remained in force but “our security co-operation with New Zealand has been appropriately reduced.” Enactment by New Zealand of “adverse legislation continuing the port access ban” would cause the United States to review its security obligations to New Zealand under A.N.Z.U.S., he said, reiterating United States policy on the issue. "Bilateral co-operation with Australia, under

A.N.Z.U.S., continues to serve as the foundation for our mutual security efforts in the South Pacific,” he said. Mr Weinberger said the Soviet Union’s "relentless drive to increase its military power and expand its influence continues unabated.”

He cited an increase in both strategic and intermediate range Soviet missiles, a second aircraft carrier, and a big landing ship deployed in the Pacific last year.

“Modernisation of Soviet air force units continued. Most significantly, the Soviets improved their massive air and naval base at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam.

“It is now the largest forward deployment base and staging facility outside the Soviet Union,” he said.

Mr Weinberger said that out of the Vietnam base, the Soviet Union could strike at United States facilities and attack

vital sea lines of communication. “The build-up of Soviet capability in the region is clearly aimed at the United States and its regional friends and allies,” he said. Mr Weinberger said the Cambodian people continued to suffer under a ’’brutal” Vietnamese occupation, and that the Vietnamese Army threatened Thailand. The United States was committed to help the Thai Government meet regional threats and defend its borders against Vietnamese aggression, he said. Mr Weinberger said the United States was “deeply concerned” about the deteriorating political, economic, and security issues in the Philippines. The Communist insurgency there was a “serious threat” to the Philippines Government and the future of the country, he said. . , ■