The Prime Minister says the NZ-China relationship can endure despite major differences on Xinjiang, Hong Kong and other issues
Significant differences between New Zealand and China on human rights concerns and other issues do not have to “derail” the bilateral relationship, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.
In a speech to the China Business Summit, Ardern said the differences between the two countries’ systems, interests and values were becoming harder to reconcile as the Asian superpower’s global role grew and changed.
The Government has come under increasing pressure regarding its relationship with China, with Five Eyes partners like Australia and the United States pushing for a more robust response on the plight of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, among other issues.
On Monday morning, the Prime Minister said China’s geostrategic relevance was “a reality that no country can ignore”, with hard work needed to manage differences of opinion effectively.
Echoing remarks made by her Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta last month, Ardern said there were “some things on which China and New Zealand do not, cannot, and will not agree”.
“This need not derail our relationship. It is simply a reality.”
New Zealand was an open, pluralistic democracy with a focus on transparency and the rule of law, and took a principles-based approach to its foreign policy decisions.
“We have shown this quite clearly over the past year by deliberately choosing when we make public statements on issues of concern, and with whom.”
"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.”
The Government had at times partnered Australia, the US, the UK and other countries with shared views and values, and at times moved alone, to speak out on human rights issues.
Ardern said she had raised “grave concerns” about the plight of Uyghurs with senior Chinese leaders on a number of occasions, while the Government had also spoken out about the rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong.
“Areas of difference need not define a relationship. But equally, they are part and parcel of New Zealand staying true to who we are as a nation.
“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.”
As a significant power, the way China treated its partners was important to New Zealand, and the Government would continue to promote the international rules-based system through its membership of bodies like the World Trade Organisation, World Health Organisation, and the bodies upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“Rules, norms and institutions provide the basis for our prosperity and security; and they facilitate cooperation on global issues that can only be solved collectively…
“We hope that China too sees it in its own core interests to act in the world in ways that are consistent with its responsibilities as a growing power, including as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”
