US Admiral John Aquilino, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, says much is being done to ensure continuing peace and prosperity for both New Zealand and the United States.
Admiral Aquilino is in Wellington where he and Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Kevin Short spoke to media from the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park.
Watch the media conference here:
Admiral Aquilino began by paying his respects to service members "who gave the ultimate sacrifice to guarantee freedom and peace in the region for the last 80 years".
"Our partnership runs very deep, we're doing many things to continue to ensure peace and prosperity for both of our nations and for all the nations in the region."
Asked what support the US would like to see from partners such as New Zealand following China's increased influence in the Pacific region, Admiral Aquilino said all of the partners in the region work every day to ensure the region's peace and stability.
"So what we would like to see is what we've been doing, Air Marshall Short and I just came back from Sydney where we met with 27 of our partner chiefs of militaries to have serious discussions on the things we can continue to do together."
The Sydney meetings also looked at what more could be done to ensure all nations had an equal voice, that any disputes could be resolved peacefully and that they understood each other's positions, he said.
Today's meetings would continue with that approach, he said.
"The meetings today are really just to continue our discussions on ensuring that we understand each other's positions and to identify new areas where we can work together and continue to expand our partnership."
The relationship with New Zealand runs deep and has a long history, he said.
He described the relationship as a partnership saying the small size of New Zealand's military was not an issue because "all nations deliver those things that they can deliver".
"We believe all nations have an equal voice, an equal vote in what the future of the region looks like and we value our partnerships each and every day no matter big or small."
The United States would also continue to operate in the Pacific, he said.
"We will operate in the areas that international law allows to preserve the peace, prosperity and expansive relationships in the Pacific."
Admiral Aquilino said he relied heavily on New Zealand and the other South Pacific nations to guide the US approach.
The national security implications of climate change were important to all the region's nations and it was one of the topics discussed at the chief of defence conference in Sydney, he said.
"We understand the importance of the South Pacific islands whether it be for food security, water security and what those implications might be."
Asked about illegal fishing, Admiral Aquilino said the US wanted to ensure it understood how those issues concerned the South Pacific islands and it was also discussed at the Sydney conference.
"We also discussed the importance of the ability to fish in exclusive economic zones and we discussed the importance of maritime domain awareness for those nations."
