THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1978. Mr Taiboys in the United States

Press, 31 May 1978, Page 14

THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1978. Mr Taiboys in the United States

The special session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on disarmament will be the first stop on the long trip being made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mr Taiboys. This session has been planned since 1976, though other plans for world disarmament talks have been considered since the beginning of the 19705. While it is possible to regard any disarmament talks with a fair measure of cynicism, it is too early to dismiss the special session as doomed to contain little of substance. President Carter is not going to appear at the special session, which to some extent downgrades it, but a large number of other world leaders will appear. In the meantime. President Carter is pursuing with vigour an agreement on strategic arms with the Soviet Union.

One of the troubles about disarmament talks is that while many nations might agree with the principle of general and complete disarmament, it is difficult to find one prepared to eliminate or even reduce its arms. Yet there are other reasons for hoping for some success in the disarmament talks. The world spending on arms and on arms research has reached about SI billion a day. The proportion of world production devoted to arms 50 years ago was half what it is now

Such an increase in spending has not made the world a more secure place. Nor is arms production always related to the defence needs of a nation: often defence industry has a particular importance in an economy or in a particular area and the strength of the industry and the strength of the defence bureaucracy sustain that importance. A special session of the United Nations on disarmament should provide the opportunity for the whole world to review the production of weapons and consider whether too much is being spent that way. New Zealand’s position in the special session will probably follow closely the attitude outlined in the recent Government paper, “Disarmament, and Arms Control.”

The second major task that Mr Taiboys will have in the United States is to attend the Ministerial Council of

A.N.Z.U.S. in Washington. To some the first two tasks might seem contradictory: the one an expression of belief in disarmament, the other an affirmation of an alliance with a nuclear Power. It would be difficult to deny that idealism is being tempered with pragmatism. The links that this country has with the United States are not solely in defence. The A.N.Z.U.S. alliance, however, has advantages for New Zealand apart from being the ultimate guarantee of its security.

Mr Taiboys will have the opportunity to hear American assessments—political, economic, and military—of the whole region. One topic may be the con flict between Vietnam and Cambodia and the attempt by Vietnam to assert its hegemony throughout Indo-China. If this question is raised, another may follow: will Vietnam be expansionist? What political, economic, and even military role is Japan going to have in SouthEast Asia and the Pacific? These and other questions will be discussed at the A.N.Z.U.S. meeting.

Mr Taiboys will also discuss trade between New Zealand and the United States while he is in Washington. In particular he will be concerned about the bill recently passed by the United States Senate which would almost certainly restrict the imports of beef. President Carter has shown no liking for the bill and may veto it. Mr Taiboys will doubtless want an assessment of whether that is likely to happen and, if it does, what the effects will be in the United States.

The New Zealand Embassy in Washington will have made its own assessments but import restrictions are usually political decisions and a politician of high standing can sometimes obtain some special information from the politicians he meets. On occasions he may even be able to reverse a trend. Mr Taiboys has important tasks in Europe as well and will go there after the American visits. But the tasks that he performs in New York and Washington are hardly less important to New Zealand’s interests.