China-NZ tourism launch date set

After a controversial stall at the starting blocks, the Government has announced a new launch date for the diplomatic fete that is to mark tourism-related cooperation between New Zealand and China.

The China-NZ Year of Tourism has been ongoing in practice for a few months, but the official launch celebration, set for February, between the two Governments was abruptly postponed due to ‘‘scheduling issues’’ on China’s side.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced it will be launched on March 29, which is likely to leave diplomats breathing a sigh of relief. It will be hosted by the Chinese Government lead by a visiting Chinese delegation under China’s Minister for Tourism and Culture.

Typically these events would fail to garner headlines, however the cancellation of the first event was one of a number of recent red flags to signal the important relationship with China had taken a turn for the worse.

Sources had suggested the postponement was due to China’s unwillingness to send a minister to attend, something the prime minister had rejected.

While Ardern has received a formal invite to visit China, her office has been unable to find a set of dates that work for Chinese officials.

She would be the first prime minister in more than 30 years not to visit New Zealand’s top trading partner, in her first year of Government.

If she does not visit China before Parliament is dissolved next year, it’s likely she may not get there this parliamentary term.

There was also a flurry of delays of various New Zealand exports at Chinese ports, however consensus appears to be the alarm was unfounded and perhaps brought about by heightened concerns that the dynamic of the relationship had shifted.

Public data was limited, however there appears to be no evidence New Zealand was facing any economic reprisals yet – something many feared could come about following a decision from New Zealand’s external spy agency to block Chinese telco Huawei from building a new 5G network.

New Zealand has also embarked on a new Pacific policy called the Pacific Reset, which is at least in part aimed at countering the influence of China in the Pacific region.

It had also looked closer toward the United States to support security interests in the region and explicitly named China as a security threat in the South China Sea.

Both actions have irked the communist lead super-power.