The Government has sought to temper any trepidation over New Zealand's move to forge closer defence ties with the United States.
The countries issued a joint statement this week - committing to co-operate more militarily - in the face of China's push into the Indo-Pacific through a suite of security deals.
The first was with the Solomon Islands in April - RNZ can reveal that agreement prompted a high-powered national security meeting here in New Zealand.
Here's our deputy political editor Craig McCulloch.
