What diplomatic milestones will New Zealand and Asia commemorate in 2025?

The unveiling of the official Logo for the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN-New Zealand dialogue relations

New Zealand and ASEAN’s dialogue relationship turns 50

Celebrations are already underway for the 50th anniversary of New Zealand’s formal ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Formed in 1967 amid the Vietnam War and in the aftermath of Indonesia’s violent communist clamp down, the association was founded by Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, seeking to create a common bloc against communist expansion – and usher in a new period of regional stability.

Eight years later and eager to support the region’s economic growth and security, New Zealand held its first dialogue with ASEAN in Singapore in February 1975, marking the start of official relations.

The Founding members of ASEAN ( Leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand) in 1967, the year ASEAN was established

Today, ASEAN’s membership has doubled to include Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. New Zealand and ASEAN’s engagement has also expanded across education, security, and the environment.

Trade between New Zealand and the association has also grown, with the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) coming into effect in 2010 and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) finalised in 2020. In the year to June 2024, trade between New Zealand and ASEAN was valued at $26 billion, making ASEAN New Zealand’s fourth largest trade partner. 

But it’s a shared commitment to the rules-based order that is likely to be front and centre of these celebrations. As ASEAN Secretary-General Dr. Kao Kim Hourn remarked earlier this month, “Together, our efforts in multilateral diplomacy and international cooperation amplify our collective voice on the global stage, reflecting our commitment to open markets, respect for sovereignty, and cooperative progress in an increasingly complex world.”

50 years since the end of the Vietnam War...

April will mark 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War, which spanned two decades and saw over 3,000 New Zealand civilians and military join their ANZUS treaty partners to fight on the side of the anti-communist South Vietnam, known officially as the Republic of Vietnam.

1967 NZ Services Medical Team (NZSMT) leaving Whenuapai for Vietnam, 30 Apr 1967 (Photo: Ken Treanor)

Although New Zealand’s military contribution is often described as ‘modest’, it was enough to birth an anti-war movement and sparked widespread debate over New Zealand’s approach to foreign policy, security alliances and national identity. 

Despite thousands taking to the streets to protest New Zealand’s involvement, it was the US’s gradual withdrawal that is ultimately credited with New Zealand’s own decision to withdraw troops from combat by the end of 1971. A year later, amid rapid advances by the North, the new Norman Kirk government recalled New Zealand's remaining training teams. New Zealand civilian medical workers, who had been treating civilians and training local nursing staff since 1963 were withdrawn in March 1975.

Less than a month later, New Zealand’s ambassador to South Vietnam, the remaining embassy staff, and South Vietnamese with ‘unofficial’ refugee status caught the last Royal New Zealand Air Force flight out of Vietnam.  North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon, effectively ending the war, just nine days later.

RNZAF Bristol Freighter at Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Airport evacuating SVN Embassy staff, April 1975. (Photo: Bob Davidson Collection)

...and 50 years of diplomatic ties between New Zealand and Vietnam

While North and South Vietnam wouldn't be officially reunited until July 1976 under the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, New Zealand was quick to establish diplomatic relations with North Vietnam once the war was over.

The 19th of June will mark 50 years since the communique formerly establishing diplomatic ties was signed by New Zealand and North Vietnam’s ambassadors in Beijing. Prime Minister Bill Rowling was quoted in the Press at the time as saying, “North Vietnam has become the most important country in Indo-China, with the capacity to exert a major influence on the course of events in South-East Asia.”

In the years since, New Zealand and Vietnam have upgraded their relationship to a ‘comprehensive partnership’ (2009) and a ‘strategic partnership’ (2020). Only seven countries currently hold ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’ status with Vietnam. Will 2025 also be the year that New Zealand joins their ranks? 

60 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and Singapore

Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew meeting with with then New Zealand Prime Minister Bill Rowling in April 1975, watched on by soon-to-be prime minister Robert Muldoon

On the 9th of August 1965, a tearful Lee Kuan Yew, then Prime Minister of Singapore, appeared on TV screens and announced Singapore’s separation from Malaysia.  The separation came less than two years after Singapore, Malaya, Sarawak and North Borneo (Sabah) had merged to form the Federation of Malaysia.

The announcement followed months of political infighting and racial violence. 

The signing of the independence agreement, which occurred over the weekend before the Monday announcement, was also initially kept secret from New Zealand, Australia and Britain over fears the three governments would attempt to block the move.

The fears were not unfounded. New Zealand had favoured the merger as a means of strengthening the region against the communist expansion. Despite expressing “regret” over the separation, New Zealand was among the first countries to recognise the newly independent Singapore, with Prime Minister Holyoake announcing the next day, “Our interest, of course, is in the progress and stability of the area and its defence against aggression or the threat of aggression. We must continue to work for those goals with Malaysia and an independent Singapore just as in the past we have worked for them with Malaysia.”  

NZ Army and Singapore Armed Forces personnel provide support to the Christchurch Earthquake Operation

Six decades on, Singapore is considered one of New Zealand’s closest friends in the region, second only to Japan and our most visited country in Asia. Marking the 60th, Gabrielle Rush, New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Singapore, told the Straits Times, “It’s difficult to summarise the depth of the relationship. Singapore is one of our closest, most trusted and like-minded partners.”

80 years since the end of WWII

Of course, there’s one global anniversary that will eclipse the rest: August will mark 80 years since the end of World War II. How to mark the anniversary, and interpret its legacy, is already a point of contention across Korea, China and conservatives in Japan.

The South Korean film Harbin and mainland Chinese film 731 Biochemical Revelations, which centre on Japan’s colonisation of Korea and northern China, have been met with push back from the likes of conservative Japanese politician Yoichi Shimada.

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meeting with China's Xi Jinping at the APEC Summit in Peru in November 2024

Meanwhile as China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi calls for the need to “advocate the correct historical view of World War II”, speculation grows as to whether Japan’s recently elected prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, will take a more apologetic tone than Shinzo Abe’s statement the decade prior. 

While the war may have ended almost eight decades ago, its impact continues to reverberate.

The Foundation's Asia in Focus initiative publishes expert insights and analysis on issues across Asia, as well as New Zealand’s evolving relationship with the region.