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Fran O Sullivan: National tries to find right stance on China
30 Apr, 2021 05:00 PM
4 minutes to read
Times have changed since PM John Key met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wellington in 2014. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Times have changed since PM John Key met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wellington in 2014. Photo / Mark Mitchell
OPINION:
The National Party s parliamentary wing has some major behind the scenes soul-searching under way on where it stands on China. Some of this may spill out into the open at today s National Party northern regional conference in Auckland.
That s if the MPs present and the party members are not consumed by the perennial issue of the leadership of the political wing, and suggestions put forward by a review panel which could strip the caucus of their ability to mount coups and change leaders without any consultation.
Viewers were shown a number of propaganda videos seeking to portray Xinjiang as a place of harmony and ethnic unity, while local representatives selected by the government to speak said they were happy with their lives and free to live as they wanted.
In the background of a shot of officials, text said: Xinjiang is a Wonderful Land .
It was an effort by the Chinese Government to highlight what it says is the real situation in Xinjiang after a large number of independent reports and first-hand testimonials showed that more than 1 million Uighurs are detained in concentration camps, subject to torture and forced labour as authorities attempt to eradicate their religion and suppress birth rates.
Thomas Manch19:04, Apr 30 2021
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta delivers a speech on NZ-China relations at the NZ China Council in Wellington.
The Chinese Embassy in Wellington has rolled out a “propaganda” briefing about Xinjiang, attempting to disprove assertions that Beijing is committing human rights abuses of Uyghur Muslims. The two-hour briefing was conducted over video conference for journalists, academics, and politicians on Friday afternoon, and centred on a series of promotional videos and speeches given by people in Xinjiang about positive experiences of economic development, vocational education, and family planning. Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta last month said there was “clear evidence” of severe abuses including “restrictions on freedom of religion, mass surveillance, large-scale extra-judicial detentions, as well as forced labour and forced birth control, including sterilisation”.