U.S. TO OPEN TALKS WITH NEW ZEALAND ON NUCLEAR POLICY

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Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP90-00552R000202030055-6
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RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
June 18, 2010
Sequence Number: 
55
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
September 15, 1985
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OPEN SOURCE
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00552R000202030055-6 INCVV Tuxn 11MtJ ARTICLE APPE 0 15 September 1985 ONPAGE- U1S.TOOPENTN~KS respond vigorously, the antinuclear policy of New Zealand could spread to Europe. WITH NEW ZEALAND an Began La" ter o d l Wi The rift developed last winter when Prime Minister David Lange, who was ON NUCLEAR POLICY elected in' July 1984, carried out a Labor_ Party antinuclear election pledge and refused port entry to an Wellington Official Will Bring Proposal to Washington - Skepticism Is Voiced By BERNARD GWERTZMAN WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 - The United States and New Ze&land have agreed to hold high-level talks next week to determine if the yearlong rup- ture in the Pacific alliance over nu- clear policy can be repaired, Adminis- tration officials said today. They said Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Defense Secretary Cas- par W. Weinberger would hold meet- iings with Geoffrey Palmer, New Zea- land's Deputy Prime Minister, on Thursday and Friday in Washington. According to New Zealand officials,, Mr. Palmer, who is also the Attorney General, Is carrying a confidential plan drafted by the ruling Labor Party that could open the way to ending the rift that has paralyzed the 34-year-old Anzus alliance of Australia, New Zea- land and the United States. Some Skepticism in Washington Administration officials said they are interested in seeing the plan, but several of them doubt it will go far enough to resolve the split in the al- liance. This will be the highest-level meet- ing, owever, between the two coun- tries since a United tates sus e all. military exercises with New land and cut off exchange of into - aeni5e fn kormat th its long- and ally Administration officials said Mr. Palmer's visit is viewed as crucial because if the Labor Party plan falls to erA the rift, the United States would consider ending all its formal se- curity obligations to come to New Zea- land's aid in case of a military emer- gency The nuclear dispute been taken seriously in Washingt r because of concern that if the United States did not American Navy destroyer, the Buchan- an, on the ground that he could not be sure if it was carrying nuclear Wean- one. Mr. Lange had ordered a ban an all nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships In New Zealand waters It is standard American policy never to say if a particular ship is carrying nuclear arms. And Washington refused in the case of the Buchanan to confirm or deny If nuclear arms were aboard. As a result of the incident, theUnited for =01k e fiche an And the agree- ment of ustralia's Labor Govern- ment, the United States canceled the annual meeting of the Anzus alliance, which was set for Canberra two months 1 ago. Administration officials said Mr. Lange's Labor Party lost a recent local election in Timaru, an area in which his party had prevailed for 58 years. The reason for the setback was pri- marily New Zealand's soaring inflation and interest rates, officials and New Zealand Embassy aides said. But a re- cent poll also showed that support for the Anus' alliance and the United States had risen from 61 percent to 71 percent in the last year, despite the strains in relations. According to New Zealand sources, Mr. Lange is trying to allow more flex- ibility into the antinuclear policy with- out renouncing it. He is faced with two Irreconcilable positions - the strong left wing of his party, which is determined not to relax the firm antinuclear policy, and the population as a whole, which while not antagonistic to that policy, gives high priority to good relations with the United States, an Administration offi- cial said. With general elections due in two years, Mr. Lange is viewed here . as rin with wasnington. Legislation has been drafted by his party for introduction next year, and a cial said the main difference between the current situation and the one that existed last winter is that Mr. Lange is now not ruling out in advance visits by ships that are. "nuclear capable," but ~ only those that are deemed to be carry- ing such weapons. In a news conference last week in Wellington, Mr. Lange was asked how his Government could tell if a ship that was capable of carrying nuclear arms actually had any If the United States refused to say. "From the best advice we have to us," he replied; "from our consulta- tions with our defense personnel,' and all other evidence." He added, however, that the New Zealand Government was not deviating from its commitment to keep New Zea- land free of nuclear-weapons. A high-level American official said today that "it appears that Lange is trying to move toward restoration of port access, along the lines of the policy ,followed by Norway and Denmark." Both of those North Atlantic Treaty Or- ganization allies have policies-of bar- ring nuclear weapons except in timwof war, but of not raising questions about American ships that call on their ports. He said, however, that the United States believes that it would be a mis- take for Mr. Lange to go ahead withmi- tinuclear legislation. Bernard Kalb, the State Department spokesman, said, "We will wait to see what Deputy Prime Minister Palmer brings." '-We continue to believe that restora- tion of port access is essential to .the Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00552R000202030055-6