New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins has disagreed with US President Joe Biden’s remark that Xi Jinping is a “dictator”, as he prepares to meet the Chinese leader on an official trade trip to China. “No, and the form of government that China has is a matter for the Chinese people,” Hipkins told reporters when asked about Biden’s description. Asked whether the Chinese people had a say in the form their government took, he said: “if they wanted to change their system of government, then that would be a matter…
Tag: New Zealand
New Zealand and Fiji strike defence deal amid rising Pacific tensions
New Zealand and Fiji have signed a defence agreement to strengthen military training and maritime security, that comes amid rising tensions over security in the region. The agreement, signed by New Zealand’s defence minister, Andrew Little, and Fijian minister for home affairs and immigration, Pio Tikoduadua, in Suva on Wednesday, sets a legal framework for military cooperation between the two countries in each other’s territories. The agreement will also address disaster and humanitarian response coordination, and the challenges of climate change. Little said the deal “reflects the value New Zealand…
As New Zealand reshapes ties with China, foreign interference must be brought out of the shadows | Sam Sachdeva
With more than $30bn of new spending, a mere $9m initiative in New Zealand’s latest budget might seem too trivial to mention. Yet the New Zealand government’s recent decision to fund an investigation into the impact of foreign interference on ethnic communities is a small step towards tackling an outsized problem: how to deal with meddling from foreign states, our largest trading partner included. China may not have been mentioned by name, but efforts by the superpower to exert influence are of growing concern to New Zealand politicians and policymakers.…
U.S. Recognition of Tiny Pacific Country Reshapes Its New Zealand Ties
The Cook Islands had given up on its dream of United Nations membership and, with it, greater autonomy and influence on the world stage. New Zealand, the country that once governed the small Pacific nation and still exercises power there, had rejected its repeated entreaties. But now that President Biden has provided a stamp of approval — with formal recognition for the Cook Islands at a summit of Pacific nations in September — the country of 18,000 people has shifted course, moving toward joining international bodies with renewed vigor. What…
New Zealand woman takes Chinese media site to human rights tribunal over ban
A woman is taking New Zealand’s biggest Chinese-language media site to a human rights review tribunal after she claims she was banned from its online message board for posting political content. May Moncur migrated from China 20 years ago and is a permanent resident of New Zealand. The Auckland employment advocate has used the New Zealand-based media company SkyKiwi for more than 15 years, regularly posting links about migrant exploitation or offering employment advice on its most popular message board, “FML”. The company promotes itself as the most influential Chinese…
Jacinda Ardern raises Taiwan with Xi Jinping at Apec meeting
Jacinda Ardern has spoken with Xi Jinping about cooperation between New Zealand and China, while also raising areas of tension and warning that international norms that had benefited the two countries were “being tested”. The New Zealand prime minister and the Chinese president met for about 50 minutes – running over the scheduled half hour – on the sidelines of the Apec summit in Bangkok. It was their first in-person meeting since 2019. A New Zealand government statement said Ardern had spoken of “significant areas of bilateral cooperation including trade,…
New Zealand’s shadow foreign affairs spokesperson faces criticism for response to UN report on Uyghurs
New Zealand’s shadow foreign affairs spokesperson said a UN report on the human rights abuses of Uyghurs includes recognition that China is “dealing with a terrorist problem essentially”, in remarks criticised by China analysts. “It’s good that it acknowledges that there has been a terrorism problem in the particular part of China that the report is on,” Gerry Brownlee, a lawmaker for the centre-right National party, told Radio New Zealand (RNZ) on Thursday in an interview about the UN findings. In the damning report, the outgoing UN human rights commissioner,…
The world stands on a nuclear precipice – we must find a way to avoid catastrophe | Jacinda Ardern
In 1945 nuclear weapons were used in armed conflict for the first and only time. 355,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by two nuclear bombs. Two. That number alone puts in stark perspective the world’s current arsenal of about 13,000 nuclear weapons. And yet in many ways the 13,000 weapons held globally represents progress; it’s less than a quarter of the more than 63,000 weapons in circulation in 1985 during the cold war. But what John F Kennedy said in 1961 at the United Nations is as urgent…
Your Tuesday Briefing: Political Turmoil in Pakistan
Good morning. We’re covering political turmoil in Pakistan and schools reopening in the Philippines. Political tensions swell in Pakistan Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former prime minister, was charged under the country’s antiterrorism act on Sunday. He is trying to stage a political comeback after he was ousted from power in April following a no-confidence vote. The charges followed a rally in Islamabad, the capital, where Khan condemned the recent arrest of one of his top aides and vowed to file legal cases against police officers and a judge involved in the…
Smiles and unity at the Pacific Islands Forum mask tough questions shelved for another day
At the close of the Pacific Islands Forum the leaders emerged from their retreat smiling, cut a giant cake with a sword and then, in an impromptu moment of diplomatic bonhomie, posed for a selfie after Anthony Albanese whipped out his phone, Ellen DeGeneres style. It was, quite literally, a picture of harmony. “It’s been a very successful meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum,” said Albanese at his post-leaders’ retreat press conference. “We are family when it comes to the Pacific and there was a good spirit of cooperation and…