New Zealand prime minister says Pacific region less secure

The Pacific region is becoming more contested and less secure as China becomes more assertive, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said on Monday, outlining the country’s need to work with like-minded partners while still engaging with Beijing.
China’s rise and how it seeks to exert that influence is a major driver of the increasing strategic competition, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, Hipkins said in a speech to the China Business Summit in Auckland.
“Our region is becoming more contested, less predictable, and less secure,” he said. “And that poses challenges for small countries like New Zealand that are reliant on the stability and predictability of international rules for our prosperity and security.”
The relationship needed careful management but China remained a key trading partner, he added.