FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2020, file photo, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during an interviewed in her office at the parliament in Wellington, New Zealand. Ardern took a tougher stance on China's human rights record Monday, May 3, 2021, by saying it was getting harder to reconcile differences as China's role in the world grows. (AP Photo/Sam James, File)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took a tougher stance on China's human rights record Monday by saying it was getting harder to reconcile differences as China's role in the world grows.
While Ardern's language remained moderate when compared with that of many other leaders, it still marked a significant shift for a country which relies on China as its largest trading partner. Ardern in past speeches has often avoided direct criticism of China.
New Zealand has been trying to strike the right tone on China in recent weeks after finding itself on the defensive with its Five Eyes security allies by resisting speaking out in unison with them against China on certain human rights issues.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta caused a diplomatic stir last month when she discussed her reluctance to expand the role of the Five Eyes to include joint positions on human rights. The alliance among New Zealand, the U.S., the U.K, Australia and Canada has its origins in World War II cooperation.
In her speech to the China Business Summit in Auckland on Monday, Ardern said New Zealand has raised “grave” concerns with China on human rights issues, including the situation of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region and people who live in Hong Kong.
“And it will not have escaped the attention of anyone here that as China’s role in the world grows and changes, the differences between our systems – and the interests and values that shape those systems – are becoming harder to reconcile,” Ardern told the audience.
Stephen Noakes, the director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Auckland, said he wouldn't have expected to hear such language from New Zealand even a couple of years ago. He said some of it sounded like a wink to the Five Eyes to let them know that although New Zealand might have economic dependencies on China, it wasn't being soft.
Noakes said that because China's relationships with both Australia and Canada have deteriorated so rapidly in the last few years, it has made New Zealand's rosier relationship stick out like a sore thumb.
Still, Noakes said, he didn't expect the change in New Zealand's rhetoric to have any negative impact on its trade with China. And he said New Zealand's relatively moderate stance could make it a useful go-between in the future between China and other Five Eyes members.
New Zealand has stopped short of calling the Uyghur abuses genocide, language that the U.S. and some other countries have used.
New Zealand's cultural and economic ties to China are particularly strong among the Five Eyes allies. New Zealand was the first developed nation to sign a free trade deal with China in 2008, leading to a boom in exports of New Zealand milk powder and other products. China now buys twice as much from New Zealand as New Zealand's next biggest market, Australia.
https://news.yahoo.com/zealand-leader-ardern-takes-tougher-043732587.html
Reuters Videos
The comments come as New Zealand faces pressure from some elements among Western allies over its reluctance to use the Five Eyes intelligence and security alliance to criticize Beijing.In a speech at the China Business Summit in Auckland, Ardern said there are things on which China and New Zealand "do not, cannot, and will not agree", but added these differences need not define their relationship.In comments that sparked some reaction among Western allies, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said last month she was uncomfortable expanding the role of Five Eyes, which includes Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States. China, which takes almost one-third of New Zealand's exports, has accused the Five Eyes of ganging up on it by issuing statements on Hong Kong and the treatment of ethnic Muslim Uyhgurs in Xinjiang.
The Telegraph
New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern said Monday that differences between her country and China are becoming “harder to reconcile” after her government faced accusations it was being too soft on Beijing. While New Zealand and China continue to work together, there are things on which China and New Zealand “do not, cannot, and will not agree”, Mrs Ardern said in a speech to an annual China Business Summit in Auckland. New Zealand has faced criticism as a weak link in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network after it expressed reluctance to use the alliance to criticize Beijing. But on Monday Prime Minister Ardern said her government had raised “grave concerns” with Beijing about the treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang province and spoken out about “continued negative developments with regard to the rights, freedoms and autonomy of the people of Hong Kong”. She said New Zealand has an independent foreign policy and chooses whether to raise rights issues publicly together with other countries or privately in talks with Chinese officials. “It will not have escaped the attention of anyone here that as China’s role in the world grows and changes, the differences between our systems – and the interests and values that shape those systems – are becoming harder to reconcile,” Ardern said. “This is a challenge that we, and many other countries across the Indo Pacific region, but also in Europe and other regions, are also grappling with,” she added. Although Ardern’s comments were fairly moderate, she has in the past tended to avoid direct criticism of China – New Zealand’s largest trading partner. Her speech comes two weeks after her foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta, caused consternation within Western allies when she said New Zealand was uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the 70-year-old Five Eyes network to include joint positions on human rights. Her comments led to criticism that Wellington was setting aside its principles to avoid possible economic retaliation from China. Beijing reacted angrily when the grouping – comprised of Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand – issued a joint statement in November calling on it to reinstate Hong Kong pro-democracy legislators. “No matter how many eyes they have, five or 10 or whatever, should anyone dare to undermine China’s sovereignty, security and development interests, be careful not to get poked in the eye,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at the time. Australia and Canada’s relations with Beijing have plummeted in recent years, and so far there appears to be little prospect of any significant improvement in US-China relations under President Biden. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China is acting "more aggressively abroad" and behaving "increasingly in adversarial ways”. Australia, who angered Beijing by calling for an international inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, has been on the receiving end of Chinese trade restrictions, affecting billions of dollars’ worth of its exports. Asked whether New Zealand would risk trade punishment in order to stick to its values, Ardern replied: “It would be a concern to anyone in New Zealand if the consideration was ‘Do we speak on this or are we too worried of economic impacts?’”
Business Insider
"This problem is much closer to us than most think," the new head of US Indo-Pacific Command said in March.
Associated Press
The Philippine government has protested the Chinese coast guard's harassment of Philippine coast guard ships patrolling a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday. It was the latest of dozens of recent protests by Manila’s foreign affairs department, along with increasingly acerbic remarks by the country’s top diplomat and defense chief about Chinese actions in the disputed waters. The high-profile feud has escalated despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s friendly stance toward China.
Associated Press
Russia is turning to multiple Chinese firms to manufacture the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in an effort to speed up production as demand soars for its shot. Russia has announced three deals totaling 260 million doses with Chinese vaccine companies in recent weeks. It's a decision that could mean quicker access to a shot for countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa that have ordered Russia's vaccine, as the U.S. and the European Union focus mainly on domestic vaccination needs.
