Heather du Plessis-Allan: Foreign Minister s speech suggests a move away from China
(Photo / Getty)
If you are a business exporting to China, you’ve just been given a warning: You need to start diversifying away from China.
That’s the message came through loud and clear from foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta in her speech to the New Zealand China Council today.
She said: “In thinking about long-term economic resilience, we also understand that there is value in diversity. It is prudent not to put all eggs into a single basket .
Now as far as I can see she wasn’t explicit about what her concerns are, but I think we can hazard a guess.
Last year, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian responded with anger to a statement about Hong Kong, saying âif they dare to harm Chinaâs sovereignty, security and development interests, they should beware of their eyes being poked and blindedâ.
Speaking at a meeting of the New Zealand China Council on Monday, Mahuta said New Zealand did not want to see a widening of the scope of the intelligence network. âWe are uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes,â she said. âWe would much rather prefer to look for multilateral opportunities to express our interests.â
Mahuta, giving just the second major policy address of her tenure, said the move was a departure from the approach of her predecessor, veteran Winston Peters.
New Zealand ‘Uncomfortable’ With Expanding Five Eyes to Confront China: NZ Foreign Minister
In a move likely to appease Beijing, New Zealand’s foreign minister is distancing the nation’s foreign policy away from close democratic allies, preferring to chart its own course on relations with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta was speaking in her second major address since assuming office at the New Zealand China Council on Monday, where she outlined what the nation’s “contemporary relationship” with China would look like.
While Mahuta warned local exporters of the need to diversify their trade markets and raised concerns on Beijing’s expansion in the South Pacific, she indicated that the Ardern government preferred not to align with the Five Eyes’ nations on issues outside of intelligence-sharing.
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Mahuta has also raised concerns about loan arrangements between China and other Pacific Nations.
The comments were made in a keynote speech at the New Zealand China Council meeting in Wellington today.
China has been the country s largest trading partner since 2017. This is a relationship in which all New Zealanders have an interest, and it is a relationship that the government approaches keeping in mind all New Zealanders long-term interests, Mahuta said.
She noted the recent upgrade to the country s fair trade agreement with China which would modernise the existing agreement and deliver new benefits for New Zealand businesses .
New Zealand says it will set China policy, not Five Eyes
Issued on:
19/04/2021 - 09:58 New Zealand has previously been reluctant to sign joint statements from Five Eyes partners criticising China Marty Melville AFP/File 2 min
Wellington (AFP)
New Zealand said Monday it would not let the Five Eyes intelligence alliance dictate its dealings with its largest trading partner China, in the latest distancing from the US-led group s approach to tensions with Beijing.
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta told the New Zealand China Council that the Five Eyes the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand should not stray from its scope of intelligence-sharing between member nations.