N-free ports policy reasserted

Press, 12 July 1985, Page 5

N-free ports policy reasserted

NZPA staff correspondent Kuala Lumpur The United States Secretary of State, Mr George Shultz, had been left in no doubt of the strength of New Zealand’s conviction on nuclear-free ports, said the Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr O’Flynn, after talks in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Describing the talks as amicable, Mr O’Flynn said

they had talked briefly of the ship visits issue. “Both of us outlined our positions on nuclear matters generally as well as on the particular circumstances of the South Pacific region. “I left the Secretary in no doubt of the strength of our conviction that nuclear weapons should not be brought into New Zealand ports.” There had also been discussion about the respective

Barts New Zealand and the nited States could play in helping maintain the secur- ! ity, stability, and prosperity i of the South Pacific area. “There will be more discussion of these matters as i time goes on.” In informal comments before his meeting, Mr O’Flynn said he would issue a statement after the talks and would not elaborate on it. The Minister said he wished to avoid any press

controversy on the nuclear issue during his talks here with the members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations. Mr O’Flynn arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday evening to attend the talks between the A.S.E.A.N. countries and their dialogue partners—the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the European Community. The talks followed the

eighteenth annual meeting of A.S.E.A.N. Foreign Ministers in the Malaysian capital which endorsed the association’s latest proposal to resolve the Vietnamese occupation of Kampuchea, by holding indirect talks between Hanoi and the resistance Government in exile.

No American comment was immediately available after Mr O’Flynn’s talks with Mr Shultz.