New Zealand’s main opposition, the National Party, would “absolutely” accept Chinese funding to build local road infrastructure, party leader Christopher Luxon said.
To become a leading small, advanced economy in the world, Mr. Luxon said New Zealand needed a modern and reliable infrastructure and road network.
However, the country currently has a “pothole crisis” and lacks the funds and manpower to keep up with road maintenance.
Mr. Luxon said the best way to obtain funds was through private capital and alternative funding mechanisms, adding that he would “absolutely” be willing to receive money under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
But when pressed about whether he would accept Chinese workers to build the roads, Mr. Luxon said that would be a decision for the National Infrastructure Agency, which they will establish if elected.
However, potential coalition partner the libertarian ACT Party have said they would prevent New Zealand from joining Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
“New Zealand desperately needs more foreign investment, and ACT would welcome Public Private Partners, but we can’t follow the lead of Pacific nations who have accepted investment from China, only to find they’re now in serious debt to a communist regime flexing its muscles,” ACT party leader David Seymour said.
The Nationals could require a coalition with the ACT party if it is elected into government at the upcoming general election on Oct. 14.
However, the Labour government has criticised the plan for having a $2.8 billion hole in its funding plans.
“National’s costings for its new roading projects are literally billions of dollars short, and their explanation of how they will fund them is woefully light,” Transport Minister David Parker said.
Known Debt Trap
The BRI, initiated in 2013, is a global infrastructure funding scheme that is promoted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a 21st-century version of the Silk Road. Popular with poorer developing nations, its predatory loans have left a trail of countries with unsustainable levels of debt.After nations are unable to service the debt, it leaves them vulnerable to surrendering strategic infrastructure to the CCP.
For example, after Sri Lanka was unable to repay a $1.3 billion loan, it handed over 70 percent control of the strategic Hambantota Port to a Chinese state-owned firm for a 99-year lease. The huge debt to its biggest creditor, China, is a major reason why Sri Lanka is currently in the midst of its worst economic crisis since its independence.
Yet Mr. Luxon denied the possibility that New Zealand would fall into a debt trap if it accepted BRI funding.
“That is not going to happen. That’s quite a xenophobic sort of response and a pretty simplistic response, to be honest with you,” he said.
When the National Party was in government in 2017, it signed a Memorandum of Arrangement (MOA) with the Chinese regime to develop a plan for New Zealand to join the BRI within 18 months.
The MOA was delayed when the Nationals lost the election to Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party in September 2017.
Across the ditch, the Andrews government in Victoria also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the CCP in 2018 for a significant number of infrastructure projects.
In 2021, the federal government officially cancelled its BRI agreements under powers granted by Australia’s Foreign Relations Act, saying the deals weren’t consistent with the national interest.
The infrastructure blowouts also contribute to the state’s debt level, which is slated to hit $171 billion by mid-2027.
