Chinese walls
China’s cold-shouldering of major tourism plan and Ardern indicate a dive in diplomatic relations
Diplomatic links with China appear to have plummeted to a new low as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is given the cold shoulder by Beijing and a major tourism promotion is postponed by the superpower.
Ardern was scheduled to visit China early this year but the invitation has been put on hold.
The 2019 China-New Zealand Year of Tourism was meant to be launched with great fanfare at Wellington’s Te Papa museum next week, but that has been postponed by China.
The initiative was announced by the Key Government almost two years ago when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was in Wellington.
Richard Davies, manager of tourism policy at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, said: “China has advised that this event has had to be postponed due to changes of schedule on the Chinese side.”
Officials are now working with China to reschedule the opening.
Ardern said after the Cabinet meeting yesterday that the official visit to Beijing is being worked on. Late last year she was on standby to visit but said they could not co-ordinate their
diaries. New Zealand sources in Beijing say her first visit to China is not expected any time soon.
The decision by the Government’s chief spy agency, the GCSB, to axe Chinese telco giant Huawei from the Spark 5G broadband rollout is seen by China as New Zealand taking sides with the United States. The Trump Administration publicly asked its Five Eyes partners not to do business with Huawei.
The GCSB’s version that Huawei posed a risk to national security isn’t enough for Beijing. It wants a better explanation before opening the door to Ardern.
Asset management and corporate adviser David Mahon, based in Beijing, said governments needed to get over thwarting Chinese economic aims in a way reminiscent of the Cold War struggle between capitalism and communism. “It’s unhelpful for politicians and a few anti-Chinese professors to feed uncorroborated McCarthyite conspiracies about Chinese spy networks in their countries and targeting anyone who doesn’t share their view,” Mahon said.
Philip Burdon, a former National Government Trade Minister and recently chairman of the Asia New Zealand Foundation, said New Zealand couldn’t afford to take sides.
“We clearly need to commit ourselves to the cause of trade liberalisation and the integration of the global economy while respectfully and realistically acknowledging China’s entitlement to a comprehensive and responsible strategic and economic engagement in the region,” he said.
Sources in Beijing say China plans trade retaliation and the turning back of an Air New Zealand plane at the weekend may not have been a coincidence. Sources say the airline has been trying to secure extra landing slots in Shanghai without success.
Two-way trade with China trebled over the past decade to $27 billion.
“The implications for New Zealand are dangerous at every level,” Burdon said.
Air New Zealand has taken responsibility for a costly blunder that resulted in a flight from Auckland to Shanghai being turned around.
A spokeswoman said the aircraft at the centre of the problem was new to the route and hadn’t gained the necessary approval.
Asked if the Chinese stance had changed, she said: “No, this was the result of an administrative issue on our end.”
Flight NZ289 was over the Coral Sea, four-and-a-half hours out of Auckland, when passengers were told it was heading back to Auckland.
The airline was not aware of this ever happening before due to aircraft approval problems.
While not disclosing what steps it was taking to ensure it won’t happen again, the spokeswoman said the issue was specific to the aircraft and the airline was “confident that it won’t cause any issues going forward”.
The plane was a five-month-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and entered service late last year. Another Dreamliner which took the delayed passengers and landed just after midday yesterday was an older aircraft that had flown the route before.
Chinese authorities are sensitive about planes using their airspace, of which large areas can be shut down quickly for military use.
Flight plans are filed around an hour and a half prior to the flight’s departure but that was not behind Sunday’s problem. Some passengers on NZ289 complained at the level of compensation for the 24-hour delay.
The spokeswoman said that under the terms of the Montreal Convention, the airline was required to compensate for actual, provable losses incurred as a result of this disruption.
Passengers were provided with accommodation where necessary, and meal vouchers. As a gesture of goodwill each customer also received a $200 voucher to spend on shopping at the airport.
Aviation commentator Irene King said it was an administrative “cockup” that shouldn’t have happened.
The airline, which carries around 18 million passengers a year and about 45 international flights a day, has had a turbulent fortnight.
Last month it announced an earnings downgrade which showed halfyear profits could slide by as much as $185 million on previous estimates. The airline says subdued demand and the impact of Rolls-Royce engine problems would eat into pre-tax earnings. And last week it copped flak for its handling of passengers after high winds forced a Queenstown-bound aircraft to divert to Christchurch and then fly on to Auckland.
Air New Zealand announces its half-year result on February 28.