A.N.Z.U.S. AND AMERICA

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31786, 17 September 1968, Page 24

A.N.Z.U.S. AND AMERICA

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, September 16. Whatever the result of the American Presidential election America would not abandon its commitments in the Pacific, said the United States Ambassador (Mr J. Henning) in Wellington today.

Speaking to members of the Civil Service Institute, Mr Henning said that both major Presidential candidates and major political parties were pledged to sustain the sense of world involvement that came to America with the Presidency of Franklin Roosevelt.

“Certainly, neither Presidential candidate would in office dishonour the A.N.Z.U.S. mutual security pact which unites America with New Zealand and Australia in military defence.

I “Nor would either party ever propose we abandon our A.N.Z.U.S. commitments. Regardless of party or personal posture after the November elections, A.N.Z.U.S. will still mean that the United States will respond to any New Zealand call for aid,” he said. There was a small minority of Americans who believed A.N.Z.U.S. offered a classic example of how America was playing policeman to the world, said Mr Henning. However, A.N.Z.U.S., and comparable collective pacts, obviously represented the antithesis of unilateral action. “In A.N.Z.U.S., as in N.A.T.0., we believe that only by alliances may the free world survive the assaults of Communist aggression. “If these alliances disintegrate then Western Europe and Asia will lie divided and helpless before totalitarian aggression. “These alliances embody the free will and free decisions of member nations,” said Mr Henning.