New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attends a press conference with the Australian Prime Minister in Sydney, Australia, on February 28, 2020. She met with President Joe Biden on Tuesday. File Photo by Bianca de Marchi/EPA-EFE
May 31 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden and New Zealand New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shared some of the topics on the forefront of their mind before the start of their bilateral meeting late Tuesday morning in the Oval Office, including trade, climate change and the passing reference to China.
Biden and Ardern chatted during a photo op. Biden praised Ardern on New Zealand's support for Ukraine during the current Russian invasion of that country and Ardern pointed to Biden's work on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Ardern made a reference to New Zealand facing an "increasingly difficult international environment." Her comments come after China tried, but failed, in a plan to have 10 Pacific nations endorse a sweeping new agreement covering everything from security to fisheries, with some in the region expressing deep concerns over motives.
"China has been present in the Pacific and active in the Pacific and across, you know, infrastructure projects, and built relationships over a number of years," Ardern said Monday, before her meeting with Biden, according to the South China Morning Post. "What is happening right now is not new."
Ardern said New Zealand would be a "significant advocate" for the CPTPP, which seeks to strengthen the economic relationships between the United States, Canada and many southeast Asian nations against China's growing influence.
Biden said New Zealand's assistance to Ukraine in its war against Russia was important because it shows that the fighting has an international interest and global importance than the regional conflict portrayed by Russia.
Biden and Ardern both spoke about the importance of climate change. Biden praised Ardern for taking "galvanizing action on climate change."
Noting that climate change is "one of the greatest threats we face," Ardern said there was an opportunity for both nations to work together on "this incredibly difficult issue that will only be resolved if we work together."
Biden said he wanted to emphasize working together.
"We are not coming to dictate or lay down the law," Biden said.
