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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, FEBRUARY 15, 1985
PAGE 7
nations militarily, but does not automatically obligate any one of them to
come to the others' aid if attacked. Neither does it specifically mention
nuclear weapons, nuclear-powered craft nor the obligation of accommodating
port calls by allied ships in peacetime. But Washington clearly regards
Wellington's move as contrary to the spirit of the ANZUS agreement.
Interestingly enough, the birth of the ANZUS defense treaty on September 1,
1951 marked the first time Australia and New Zealand, two former British
colonies, turned away from London and looked to Washington for protection.
State Department historian Edward Keefer has written that "Canberra and
Wellington saw this formal security pact as a guarantee against� possible
threat from� resurgent Japan as well as other potential adversaries. For
the United States, the ANZUS pact was an integral part of a series of new
American security arrangements in the Pacific which also included bilateral
security treaties with the Philippines and Japan."
A New Zealand cut off from its adopted big brother is virtually defense
less. The national military roster includes only 12,600 servicemen, less
than one-fourth the number of those serving in the military of the tiny
city-state of Singapore. The navy of this island nation, which is depen
dent upon its commodity exports for economic survival, numbers six patrol
boats and four frigates. An editorial in the February 8 DAILY TELEGRAPH
warned Wellington of what it considered the folly of its decision:
This small dispute, if it continues to go wrong, might lead to
the isolation of New Zealand. She would be left alone, with no
protection but�e"'rown in the Pacific. Given her past Imperial
ties, that would be controversial. That is the direction in
which this quarrel is heading.
Mr. Lange may wish with all his heart to preserve New Zealand as, in his own
words, a "pocket of tranquility" in the South Pacific, but the menacing
real world is not that far away.
And one wonders what the impact of the destabilizing decision will have on
Japan--a nation at peace with its neighbors now for 40 years. Initially the
Japanese anti-nuclear left might show more boldness. But forces advocating
a greater military posture could grow in strength too.
AIDS--Overlooking the Moral Factor
AIDS--Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome--has long since broken out of its
strongholds among homosexuals in San Francisco and New York. It is spread
ing fairly rapidly in Great Britain, the disease obviously having been car
ried there by U.s. gays. A rather sensational case recently erupted in
Chelmsford, England, as reported on our February 2 Reuters news wire:
A British priest's death from AIDS has touched a raw nerve among
ol� ladies who used to receive communion wine from him. Doctors
in this eastern English town said today they had received a
stream of anxious telephone calls from women who attended ser
vices conducted by•••Gregory Richards, the priest [ who] died
Thursday. Doctors refused to carry out a post-mortem examination
because of health risks involved.
A hospital official said: "We are getting a number of calls from
eminently respectable church ladies who have sipped wine from the