With incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon saying it's "highly unlikely" he will attend the APEC summit in San Francisco this week, questions have arisen as to who will replace him.
The two likely candidates are the caretaker Prime Minister Chris Hipkins or Damien O'Connor, who is already in San Francisco for trade talks.
It looks increasingly likely that Chinese leader Xi Jinping will attend, alongside President Biden and other world leaders from the summit's 21 member nations, the first time President Xi will have been in the US since 2015.
Geo-political analyst Geoffrey Miller spoke to Corin Dann.
