U.S. MAY END TREATY, NEW ZEALAND IS WARNED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504870049-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 49
• Publication Date: November 30, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0504870049-8
STAT
WASHINGTON POST
30 November 1985
U.S. May End Treaty,
New Zealand Is Warned
Ban on Nuclear Ships Would Seal Decision
By Joanne Omang
W.ivhmgtun F'nxt ', ,fI Wru, r
The United States will probably
withdraw from a regional mutual
defense treaty if New Zealand for-
mally bans visits by nuclear ships,
State Department officials said yes-
terday.
"The probable result would be
termination of the U.S. security
obligations to, and the alliance re-
lationship with, New Zealand," the
department said in a formal state-
ment. Paul D. Wolfowitz, assistant
secretary of State for East Asian
and Pacific Affairs, said in an inter-
view with TV New Zealand that the
country would also suffer loss of its
"influence and access" in Washing-
ton on trade matters.
The United States put the 34-
vear-old Australia-New Zealand-
United States (ANZUS) pact on
hold last February after New
Zealand demanded to know whether
a Navy destroyer, the USS Buchan-
an, carried nuclear arms before al-
lowing it to enter port. Longstand-
ing U.S. policy is to refuse that in-
formation on grounds that it would
facilitate target selection by U.S.
adversaries.
The United States canceled
ANZUS exercises, halted intelli-
gence sharing with New Zealand
and suspended naval maneuvers in
the area to signal its displeasure
and to discourage other antinuclear
governments from following suit,
officials said.
The ship ban was popular with
New Zealanders, however, and New
Zealand Prime Minister David
Lange plans to introduce legislation
by mid-December that would give
him power to ban any ship's visit if
he decides that the vessel is nuclear
powered or carries nuclear weap-
ons.
"Should such legislation be en-
acted, we would have to review our
whole commitment to New Zealand
under ANZUS," Wolfowitz said, ac-
cording to a transcript of the inter-
view, which is scheduled for broad-
cast Dec. 12 in New Zealand. "I
think the probable consequence of
such a review would he ... that we
are going to have to effectively ter-
minate our alliance commitment to
New Zealand."
State Department officials said
such a decision would not affect
U.S. relations with Australia under
the pact, which they described as it
trilateral treaty of mutual cooper-
ation and defense in case of an at-
tack on any of the three. "In our
judgment New Zealand's (proposed
law would negate that by not pro-
viding help for the collective de-
fense," one official said. The treaty
structure would remain in place.
but "as far as New Zealand is con-
cerned, our relationship as allies
would not exist."
Wolfowitz added that it would be
"a mistake to say that there are no
consequences outside of the secu-
rity relationship." New Zealand's
access to U.S. military technology
and to U.S. officials for help with
trade problems would end, he said,
although he emphasized that there
would be no formal economic sanc-
tions.
"There is a degree of influence
and access that goes with having
the status of being a good and val-
ued ally," he said. "That situation is
different now."
Talks between U.S. and New
Zealand officials on the terms of
Lange's proposed legislation have
broken down. Wolfowitz indicated.
Another official said the United
States would accept a measure giv-
ing the prime minister authority to
bar ships, but only if the criteria did
not label all vessels by nuclear sta-
t us.
Other U.S. allies that bar nuclear
weapons in their territory allow
U.S. ships to visit and do not ask
whether they carry such arms.
Wolfowitz said the U.S. position
provides "an important degree of
ambiguity" in the known nuclear
status of all U.S. ships. "We don't
think on an issue that important
that we should give [the Soviet
Union any unnecessary help," he
said.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0504870049-8