Private diplomacy advocated

Press, 20 May 1987, Page 47

Private diplomacy advocated

PA Dunedin Confidential, private diplomacy should be emphasised in relations between New Zealand and the United States rather than high-profile public exchanges, a former New Zealand diplomat said in Dunedin. Speaking at the annual Foreign Policy School, Mr Malcolm Templeton, a former New Zealand representative to the United States, said he was in favour of a more intensified diplomatic approach in New Zealand-American relations. “I think there is very little to be gained from high-profile public exchanges,” he said. "The restoration of the kind of relationship which existed is a long-term task. “I do not see sudden changes taking place. I am not in the government service now so I do not know what is going on, but I would hope that normal diplomatic ex-

changes are going on and that they will be intensified.” Mr Templeton said he did not pretend to have a “magic solution” to the impasse over the nuclear ships issue. . “But I agree with Sir George taking that the breadth and depth of our relationship with the United States are such that it will survive the present difficulty. “As he has said, the resources of diplomacy are endless, and have been successfully employed to the national advantage in situations scarcely legs unpromising than the present. “I do not advocate that New Zealand walk away from its anti-nuclear principles.” Mr Templeton said the task was to determine not only what New Zealand’s interests were, but what were the best means of achieving them. “It must be a continuous process which takes into account the interests

of others. We are then entitled to look for an appropriate response from our friends and our allies.” Mr Templeton said that after living in the United States for 10 years, he was struck not so much by the stark contrasts between the two countries in size and power, but by their common factors. “Both, it seems to me, are still in a process of quite painful adjustment to a new role in the world,” he said. “The United States is learning to accept the pluses and minuses of being a super-Power. “New Zealand is learning to accept the pluses and minuses of being an independent State with an independent foreign policy. “In both cases the learning process — the acceptance that the exercise of power and the exercise of independence have their limitations — has some way to go.”