US wants NZ lens to see Pacific

The US wants to take greater advantage of New Zealand's familiarity with the Pacific and has suggested holding bilateral talks around the Pacific Islands Forum in October.

The suggestion comes from Glyn Davies, the State Department's new deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, who has just visited New Zealand.

He said New Zealand had a "sharper optic" on the Pacific "so we need to take advantage of that."

"We've discovered that New Zealand has a great many capabilities and a lot to offer and it's thinking more about these problems than just about anybody and we want to tap into that," Mr Davies said on TVNZ's Agenda programme on Saturday.

Mr Davies also expanded on the criticisms last week of "chequebook diplomacy" in the Pacific made by Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

Mr Peters castigated Taiwan and praised China's growing interest in the Pacific, but Mr Davies was more critical of China. "Sometimes what they are doing is writing big cheques to Pacific nations to try to bring them around to their way of thinking.

"Taiwan is doing the same so you have a sort of strategic competition that isn't always in the best interests of the states themselves."