Jacinda Ardern and Joe Biden as one on China

Jacinda Ardern has told Joe Biden that New Zealand shares the US’s concern that a Chinese military base in the Pacific would ‘fundamentally alter the strategic balance of the region’.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Picture: Getty Images

Jacinda Ardern has told Joe Biden that New Zealand shares the US’s concern that a Chinese military base in the Pacific would “fundamentally alter the strategic balance of the region”, as Wellington said security and defence would become an “ever-more-­important” focus of its relationship with Washington.

Beijing’s push into the Pacific was a priority during an Oval ­Office meeting between Ms Ardern and Mr Biden, the first visit to the White House by a New Zealand prime minister since 2014.

Ms Ardern told the President they were meeting at a “critical moment”, as the two leaders spoke of their families’ Pacific service in World War II.

“You speak of your uncle’s service in the Pacific. My grandfather served in the Pacific. That speaks to the personal connection, but also the depth of our friendship and relationship as two countries,” Ms Arden said. “We are in an ­incredibly difficult international environment.”

As Ms Ardern and Mr Biden discussed their “affirmative ­vision” for the Pacific, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi continued his unprecedented outreach in the region. On Wednesday, Mr Wang met with Vanuatu’s leaders, after signing bilateral agreements with Tonga’s Prime Minister hours earlier.

Beijing this week failed to get support for a sweeping security and trade agreement at a meeting of Pacific Island leaders in Fiji, a setback on a trip it has billed as “unusual and historic”.

Mr Wang will visit Papua New Guinea on Thursday, despite concerns by former PNG prime minister Peter O’Neill that the timing – weeks before a national election – is not appropriate. Mr Wang will then visit East Timor, where he is expected to sign further deals.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong is heading to Samoa and Tonga, her second Pacific visit in the first fortnight of the Albanese government.

Beijing has dismissed concerns made by Wellington, Canberra and other Pacific Island countries about China’s new security agreement with Solomon Islands, which was signed last month.

In a notably direct move, New Zealand repeated those concerns in its joint statement with America after the leaders’ meeting.

“We note with concern the ­security agreement between the People’s Republic of China and the Solomon Islands,” the New Zealand-US statement read.

“In particular, the US and New Zealand share a concern that the establishment of a persistent military presence in the Pacific by a state that does not share our values or security interests would fundamentally alter the strategic balance of the region and pose national security concerns to both our countries.”

The statement also said that “security and defence will become an ever-more-important focus of our strategic partnership”.

Anne-Marie Brady, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of Canterbury, said Beijing’s attempt to get Pacific Island countries to sign a security agreement while excluding New Zealand and Australia was a “strategic overstep” that had brought Wellington and Washington closer.

Mr Biden said his administration was focused on “working ­together” with New Zealand and its partners in the region. “We are not coming to dictate or lay down the law,” he said.

After the meeting, a senior White House official said the US understood it needed to “step up” its engagement in the Pacific.

David Capie, director of the Centre for Strategic Studies at Wellington’s Victoria University, said Beijing’s security agreement with Solomon Islands had “catalysed” opinion in New Zealand and contributed to a “shift”.

Professor Capie said there was a clear attempt by the New Zealand and American governments to make sure they were responsive to the concerns of Pacific Island countries. “It was framed very much in terms of the Pacific’s priorities,” he said. “There was an attentiveness to be seen to be a good partner — a listening partner.”