Ship visit: ‘Keep this low profile’
Victoria University staff discussed keeping a ‘‘low profile’’ when invited on board a visiting Chinese naval ship.
The Qi Jiguang slid quietly into Wellington Harbour between October 26 and 30, with no explanation from the Government or New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF). The navy training vessel was on a two-month tour of the Asia-Pacific region. NZDF said at the time it was aware of the visit but referred any questions to the Chinese embassy.
Emails released under the Official Information Act showed that weeks before the ship arrived, the Chinese embassy contacted Victoria University, inviting several senior staff to a reception on board. Staff and students were also invited for a tour of the ship.
The university’s assistant vicechancellor, Rebecca Needham, forwarded the invite to other staff, saying the ship would be in New Zealand on a ‘‘goodwill visit’’.
Deputy vice-chancellor Blair McRae replied, suggesting she take advice from another staff member about touring the ship.
‘‘I am not sure how we could communicate this or indeed if we should. I am thinking not,’’ said McRae. ‘‘Again, my instinct is that we keep a low profile but maybe host them here for a visit and tour if they have time?’’
Needham agreed it was ‘‘better all round to keep this low profile’’.
In the end, Needham was the only senior staff member who went to the deck reception.
Three staff from the university’s NZ Contemporary China Research Centre, including its director, and the deputy director of the university’s Confucius Institute (CI) also attended.
CIs embedded in Western universities have been criticised as proxies of influence for the Chinese Communist Party.
Needham, a former director of the university’s CI, also arranged a tour of the campus for 80 naval trainees from the ship on October 29. The first media report about the ship’s visit was on October 22. Before the ship arrived, Stuff requested documents and correspondence regarding the visit from NZDF. The request was declined on the grounds it would be likely to prejudice the international relations of New Zealand.
‘‘The visit was organised and approved in the usual way, through diplomatic channels,’’ Air Commodore AJ Woods, chief of staff at the Defence Force, said in a November response to Stuff.
‘‘Personnel from PLAN’s Qi Jiguang undertook courtesy calls on the vice-chief of Defence Force and chief of navy, and a number of Defence Force personnel attended two functions on board the ship.’’
An academic present at one of the functions said it was an opportunity to observe the ‘‘theatre of shifting power’’. He said a NZDF representative delivered ‘‘an intelligent and nuanced statement’’ about New Zealand’s position on the ship’s visit.