Former PM ignores dark side of trade with tyrants

Damien Grant (‘‘Does Luxon share Sir John Key’s wilful blindness on China’’, Opinion, January 8) writes about Key’s dealing with Communist China and whether National Party leader Christopher Luxon would do the same. It questioned the morality of this in view of the genocide committed by the Communists upon their own people.

There is also, however, another more dangerous and sinister reason for not trading with China, which is that when countries become dependent upon them for much of their exports, they are vulnerable to also being controlled by them. Our own government would do well to consider this fact. Will we see the Solomon Islands, sometime in the future, with a puppet government propped up by Beijing?

The same can be said of Russia, which now controls onethird of the world’s supply of wheat.

Trade has now become the new weapon of these two totalitarian regimes.

Furthermore, what about the morality of much of the world sourcing the manufacture of their goods from China, where peasant labour is bussed in daily from the countryside to work in the cities factories for a mere pittance?

Vincent Harris, Auckland

I often disagree with Grant, but I enjoy his provocative, humorous style. He has nailed it with his column on Key and China.

Key is the man who couldn’t remember what he was doing during the 1981 Springbok Tour. He is the ultimate pragmatist – genocide? Let’s focus on the real stuff, like trade deals and

Christmas cards.

Is Luxon a man cut from the same cloth?

I, too, would like to see some questions asked of him about these matters.

Gavin Kay, Auckland

Grant was spot on. I would agree that Key has a pleasant personality, but that is about all. His main aim in life, to my way of thinking, is to promote himself and add to the family coffers.

He is obviously not interested in human rights violations in China as long as he stays onside with the premier.

It concerns me that he is now an influence on the current leader of the Opposition, so we can expect more of Key’s more wacky ideas to surface should National defeat Labour in the coming election.

Allen Jones, Cambridge

Strategy variants

The Labour Government’s strategies to fight the Covid-19 pandemic were elimination, border closures, mandates, vaccination.

With this new Kraken variant, one would have expected to see a pre-departure Covid test applied to anyone entering the country from China as a lot of countries have implemented.

Why has this government gone from heavy-handed to blase´ ?

Maria Thomas, Christchurch

Trump and Putin

Just like former US president Donald Trump’s election denials, Russian president Vladimir Putin’s justification for invading Ukraine was based on a pack of lies. Birds of a feather!

Lloyd McIntosh, Auckland

Housing reset

Why do journalists, including Miriam Bell (‘‘The housing market outlook’’, Homed, January 8), always interview those whose interest could be described as akin to those of the fox in charge of the henhouse?

She quotes five sources: Valuation firm head, mortgage adviser, CoreLogic’s property economist, real estate chief executive, Auckland Property Investors president – all, I argue, dependent upon the sale of more properties.

New Zealand since 1980s has led the OECD in increasing inequality – mostly due to unfettered property speculation. We are now a nation of two halves – those with and without property. Those without cannot afford the hyperbolic rents now charged.

A major house price collapse must occur, otherwise there is no future for our children.

We need a total reset. I hope the Reserve Bank governor is attempting this, given no politicians have ever had the courage.

Please, balance in housing reporting – not comments from those with dollars to earn. Martin Visser Kaiteriteri

Iwi’s failings

On December 31, The Press ran a story under the heading, ‘‘Humbled leader thanks her hapu¯ ’’, about the chair of Nga¯ i Tahu, Lisa Tumahai, and her new year honour.

The Sunday Star-Times of January 8 ran an even longer