We Must Be Able to Raise Concerns Without ‘Retaliatory Acts’: New Zealand PM to Meet Xi

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to the media following The Press Leaders Debate at Christchurch Town Hall in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Oct. 6, 2020. (Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she needs to be able to raise areas of concern with Chinese leader Xi Jinping without the country being on the receiving end of retaliation.

The comments come ahead of her expected meeting on Nov. 18 with Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Bangkok, Thailand.

Ardern is the next Western leader to formally meet with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader after U.S. President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

She said the face-to-face meeting with Xi, the first since 2019, will provide an opportunity to discuss New Zealand’s strong economic relationship with China and raise issues of disagreements, such as human rights problems in Xinjiang and the military build-up in the Indo-Pacific.

“I will make sure that I raise both in the national interest,” she told Stuff news.

“Let’s not define the relationship on the parts where we part ways, but we do have to create an environment where we can raise those [concerns] because that’s part of who we are. We will always raise the areas that we have concerns about.

“We need to make sure we have an environment where we can do that without us seeing retaliatory acts, because in my mind that doesn’t further the relationship.”

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As New Zealand’s largest trading partner, political and business leaders view its economic relationship with Beijing as extremely important. The prime minister previously expressed her willingness to lead a business delegation to China to strengthen in-person connections once COVID-19 restrictions ease.

At the top of the agenda would be dialogue on issues such as climate change and deepening cultural exchanges to support the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship, she said.

CCP Tried to Make an Example out of Australia

In 2020, the CCP slapped New Zealand’s neighbour, Australia, with A$20 billion (US$13.5 billion) worth of trade sanctions in retaliation to the former Morrison government’s call for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.

The CCP also delivered a list of 14 “grievances” that Australia needed to address before diplomatic relations could normalise.

These include ending negative commentary on the CCP from Australian media outlets and MPs; ending calls for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19; stopping building a coalition of partners in the Indo-Pacific; ending the ban on Huawei from the nation’s 5G network; and remove Australia’s foreign interference laws.

However, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken remarked in February that the CCP had “lost more” than Australia in the economic power play after Australia was largely able to diversify its trade away from the Chinese market.

Following Albanese’s meeting with Xi on Nov. 15 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, the prime minister said that any expectations that Australia would see an immediate removal of the sanctions were not realistic.

“It was not anticipated that a meeting such as that, that you get immediate declarations. I believe if people thought that would happen, then that was not realistic,” he said.

Victoria Kelly-Clark contributed to this report.