FBI to Open New Zealand Office         08/01 06:08

   

   WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- FBI Director Kash Patel provoked diplomatic 
discomfort in New Zealand by suggesting the opening of a new office in the 
capital aims to counter China's influence, drawing polite dismissals from 
Wellington and ire from Beijing.

   Patel was in Wellington on Thursday to open the FBI's first standalone 
office in New Zealand and to meet senior officials. The arrangement aligns New 
Zealand with FBI missions in other Five Eyes intelligence-sharing nations, 
which also include the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

   The Wellington office will provide a local mission for FBI staff who have 
operated with oversight from Canberra, Australia, since 2017.

   Patel's China remarks prompted awkward responses

   In remarks made in a video published Thursday by the U.S. Embassy, Patel 
said the office would help counter Chinese Communist Party influence in the 
contested South Pacific Ocean.

   New Zealand ministers who met Patel, the highest-ranking Trump 
administration official to visit New Zealand, quietly dismissed his claims. A 
government statement Thursday emphasized joint efforts against crimes such as 
online child exploitation and drug smuggling, with no mention of China.

   "When we were talking, we never raised that issue," Foreign Minister Winston 
said Thursday.

   Judith Collins, minister for the security services, said the focus would be 
on transnational crime.

   "I don't respond to other people's press releases," she said when reporters 
noted Patel had mentioned China, Radio New Zealand reported.

   Trade Minister Todd McClay rejected a reporter's suggestion Friday that 
Wellington had "celebrated" the office opening.

   "Well, I don't think it was celebrated yesterday," he said. "I think there 
was an announcement and it was discussed."

   Beijing decries the FBI chief's comments

   At a briefing Friday, Beijing's foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun 
denounced Patel's remarks

   "China believes that cooperation between countries should not target any 
third party," he said. "Seeking so-called absolute security through forming 
small groupings under the banner of countering China does not help keep the 
Asia Pacific and the world at large peaceful and stable."

   New Zealand, the smallest Five Eyes partner, has faced ongoing pressure to 
align with U.S. stances on China, its largest trading partner, while carefully 
balancing relations with Beijing. Analysts said the FBI chief's comments could 
vex those efforts, although New Zealand has faced such challenges before.

   "It's in New Zealand's interest to have more law enforcement activities to 
deal with our shared problems," said Jason Young, associate professor of 
international relations at Victoria University of Wellington. "It's perhaps not 
in New Zealand's interest to say we're doing this to compete with China."

   The FBI expansion comes during fresh Pacific focus

   Patel's visit came as the Trump administration has sought to raise global 
alarm about Beijing's designs. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in June said 
China posed an imminent threat and urged Indo-Pacific countries to increase 
military spending to 5% of GDP.

   New Zealand has traditionally avoided singling out individual countries when 
discussing regional tensions, Young said.

   "I'm sure the U.S. would like New Zealand to speak more forthrightly and 
characterize the China challenge in a similar way to the United States," Young 
added.

   New Zealand is a remote country of 5 million people that was once assumed by 
larger powers to be of little strategic importance. But its location and 
influence in the contested South Pacific Ocean, where Beijing has sought to woo 
smaller island nations over the past decade, has increased its appeal to 
countries like the U.S.

   Peters, the foreign minister, told The Associated Press in 2024 that U.S. 
neglect of the region until recent years had in part been responsible for 
China's burgeoning influence there. He urged U.S. officials to "please get 
engaged and try to turn up."

   New office provokes anger among New Zealanders

   Not everyone welcomed the expanded FBI presence.

   Online, the new office drew rancor from New Zealanders who posted thousands 
of overwhelmingly negative comments about the announcement on social media 
sites. A weekend protest against the opening was planned.

   Young said it was unlikely people posting in anger took issue with 
cross-border law enforcement efforts in general.

   "I think it would be more a reflection of some of the deep unease that many 
people in New Zealand see with some of the political choices that are being 
made in America at the moment," he said.