Countries across the Asia-Pacific region are strengthening their defenses in response to military threats from Beijing, and now New Zealand is joining in.
The development illustrates just how far China extends its influence into the Pacific, when even an island nation 6,000 miles away is on alert.
Over the years, Beijing has sent several groups of naval ships to the region. Just last year, New Zealand warned that “extremely capable” Chinese military ships had been spotted in the Tasman Sea—the body of water between Australia and New Zealand.