"China has a long-standing presence in the Pacific, but we are seriously concerned about China's growing engagement in Pacific security," Winston Peters told the New Zealand China Council in Auckland, in a speech posted on the ministry's website. New Zealand does not want "developments that destabilise the institutions and arrangements that have long underpinned regional security", he warned.

The Pacific region has returned to the spotlight of the United States, Australia, New Zealand and other allies after China signed a security pact, the terms of which have not been made public, with the Solomon Islands in 2022, about three years after the nation switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing, according to the EFE news agency.

The New Zealand minister also called on China to play a "constructive role" in resolving conflicts, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, as well as in favour of the dismantling of North Korea's nuclear and missile programme.

Peters also defended freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, through which a third of world trade passes and which is the scene of territorial tensions between the Asian giant and its neighbours.

The minister also called for a "diplomatic and peaceful resolution of the problems in the Taiwan Strait".

Other issues addressed in this speech on New Zealand's "complex" relationship with China, the oceanic country's main trading partner, included respect for human rights, particularly of the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, as well as the populations of Hong Kong and Tibet.

Peters' speech comes after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Wellington in March to strengthen bilateral ties, in what was the first visit by a Chinese foreign minister to New Zealand since 2017.

New Zealand, a nation with a strong anti-nuclear policy, is considering joining the AUKUS agreement, signed in 2021 between Canberra, London and Washington and strongly criticised by Beijing, which includes the development and acquisition of nuclear submarines by Australia.

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