Sinophile diplomat

Sinophile diplomat

Like the godwit, John McKinnon is returning home. He’s just been to view the migratory birds on the mudflats at Dandong, north-east of Beijing, one of his final duties as New Zealand’s ambassador to China.

It’s hardly a duty, more a pleasure. McKinnon doesn’t describe himself as a birder, but, like anyone who learns the story of the kuaka’s epic flight from New Zealand to Siberia and Alaska, he is in awe of their endurance.

The godwits also serve as tiny ambassadors.

At a visit to the key site of Miranda, near Thames, two years ago, Chinese vice-minister Chen Fengxue signed an agreement to protect the Yalu Jiang Nature Reserve near Dandong, on the Chinese border with North Korea.

‘‘It is humbling to see these small birds that fly non-stop between our two countries,’’ Chen said at the time. ‘‘They form a bridge between New Zealand and China. They connect us as people. We will work together to keep the bridge open.’’

Unlike the godwit heading north to breed, McKinnon’s journey is taking him to a wintry Wellington as the curtain falls on a lengthy diplomatic career.

His first posting to Beijing was in 1978, after two years’ language training. New Zealand had established a diplomatic relationship with China in 1972, and McKinnon’s arrival coincided with economic reforms under Deng Xiaoping.

‘‘It was the beginning of reform, the 3rd plenum charted a new course for China. I was second secretary, and we had only a handful of staff. China at the time was interesting but limited. When we started the relationship in 1972 the premise was political, there was no trade.’’

Fast forward 40 years, and China is New Zealand’s No 1 trading partner. Since 2008 and the signing of the free trade agreement between the two countries, exports to China have risen from $3 billion to $13.2b at the end of June last year. The Chinese take 18.4 per cent of our goods and services.

Some have expressed unease over China’s expanding influence in Asia-Pacific. Canada’s Security Intelligence Service has claimed China is busy ‘‘co-opting political and economic elites’’ in New Zealand.

It is a charge rejected as ‘‘sensationalist’’ by New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre director Jason Young, who has said the claims were ‘‘overblown and do a disservice to the much more complex reality of the New Zealand-China relationship’’.

McKinnon makes it clear it is not a topic he will comment on; nor will he discuss current Government policy towards China or the policies of the ministers he has served while in Beijing. He also does not want to venture an opinion on whether China will move towards a more Western-style democracy.

‘‘To understand the dynamic of what’s driving China now you have to understand where they’re coming from. It’s something they have to make their own decisions about and I can’t foreshadow what will happen.’’

Since he first landed in Beijing, change has occurred at a dizzying pace, especially the period between 1978 and 2001 – the year he became ambassador for the first time.

New Zealand was one of the first countries to sign a free trade agreement with China; the Chinese have gone on to agree to a further 13, including with Australia.

During his 2001-04 tenure, McKinnon was involved in exploratory talks. ‘‘It was pathbreaking and looked at as a pilot by the Chinese. We’re not the European Union, not a G20 economy, we don’t have baggage with China, no awkward history.’’

Save one piece of awkward history, he acknowledges – the poll tax imposed on Chinese migrants and not repealed until 1944, but for which New Zealand apologised in 2002.

New Zealand’s FTA is in need of an upgrade, especially with the rise of e-commerce, and technical aspects such as customs co-operation.

AWellingtonian, McKinnon traces his ancestry on his mother’s side to John Plimmer, the so-called ‘‘father of Wellington’’. He jokes the title was as much one supplied by the self-promoting entrepreneur as it was bestowed on him by others.

More recently, various family members have played high-profile roles. His father, Walter McKinnon, was chief of the General Staff from 1965-67, and three brothers have had notable careers: Don, a former foreign affairs minister; Ian, Wellington College principal and deputy mayor; and John’s twin Malcolm, a historian.

From an early age John and Malcolm developed a fascination for maps. For Malcolm, it culminated in the landmark publication the New Zealand Historical Atlas, while for John, it became a collecting hobby.

‘‘My collection has been pretty narrow, specifically China. When I was there in the

70s I was buying when I could, then between

2001 and 2004 I went to auctions, which is when I got most of mine. They are mostly dated between 1900-50.’’

He says the expansion of modern-day tourism has transformed the way Chinese think about their country, and there has been a proliferation of map books for the increasing numbers of drivers.

Why diplomacy? ‘‘I’ve always been interested in the world outside New Zealand and that was one of the ways of achieving that particular objective, particularly in the 70s when it wasn’t quite so common for people to travel overseas. I did my honours degree at Victoria then my masters in London in international history.’’

He’s familiar with the old saw about diplomats: a diplomat who says ‘‘yes’’ means ‘‘maybe’’, a diplomat who says ‘‘maybe’’ means ‘‘no’’, and a diplomat who says ‘‘no’’ is no diplomat. It’s a good joke but not the way relationships work in the real world.

‘‘You can choose how you express things, how to convey a difficult or a positive message. It’s not whether you say yes, no or maybe, it’s the way you have that conversation. One of the reasons why we invest in these relationships is the more investment you have, the more the conversation will be richer and more natural.’’

The ability to speak another language is a vital aspect. New Zealand’s long-standing fostering of Asian language learning is regarded with some envy and admiration by Europeans, McKinnon says. ‘‘It’s the best way of understanding what animates the people and the society. If you talk to them direct you get a different sense about the country.

‘‘If you’re outside Beijing especially it is a tremendous advantage, simply because they feel more comfortable speaking their own language to you rather than through an interpreter.

‘‘We assume everyone speaks English, whereas the Chinese work on the assumption no-one speaks Chinese, therefore they provide an interpreter. It’s a sign of respect and confidence if someone speaks to them in their own language and they’re very generous in their appraisal of your standard.’’

But it’s not easy compared with learning a European language, where there are so many resemblances of vocabulary. ‘‘The gap between the language you start with and the one you’re heading towards is as great as it can be, so it takes longer.’’

Of his roles, which included presiding over New Zealand’s tenure on the United Nations Security Council, and Defence Secretary from 2006-12, McKinnon says the most satisfying were his Chinese posts because they were a blend of personal and professional interest.

That interest took him to all corners of the country. He’s proud to have visited every one of the 33 provinces in China.

The Beijing post is likely to be his final ambassadorial one. His leaving coincides with the building of a new embassy in an emphatically New Zealand style that is a departure from other embassies in the capital.

For now, like the godwit, it’s time for him and wife Avenal to regroup, take stock and plan other journeys.

‘‘It’s the best way of understanding what animates the people and the society.’’ John McKinnon on speaking an Asian language