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The
decision comes as Biden works to shore up alliances in the
Asia-Pacific to present a united front on what he has described
as Washington's key foreign policy challenge: China.
Biden officials have had little high-level, face-to-face contact
with Beijing since a first senior diplomatic meeting in March in
Alaska, where the Chinese side expressed anger at U.S. sanctions
announced just ahead of the talks.
New Zealand has been an important ally in the region, and on
Friday hosted Biden, Russia's Vladimir Putin, and China's Xi
Jinping for a virtual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
summit on managing the global pandemic.
Biden hopes to use the 21-member forum and other multilateral
groups to combat what it sees as China's unfair trade practices
and other issues. The Biden administration on Friday announced a
new round of sanctions on Chinese officials over their crackdown
on Hong Kong, just one of several flashpoints between the two
countries.
"This position - working with one of our closest partners and
allies - is integral as we work closely with New Zealand to
confront the challenges facing our nations - including COVID-19,
climate, and China," Udall said in a statement.
On Friday, the White House also said Biden would nominate career
U.S. foreign service members as ambassadors to Brunei, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, as well as Botswana. Brunei is also an APEC
member. All of the positions require Senate confirmation.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Jan
Wolfe; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Sonya Hepinstall)
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