PM to make whirlwind China visit
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is set to make her first visit to China on a whistlestop tour that has been pared back significantly in the wake of the Christchurch terror attacks.
But Ardern’s scheduled departure at the weekend is a reflection of the significance of the relationship with the economic superpower which, just a month ago, was faltering under securitydriven pressures in the Pacific and South China Sea.
A decision from New Zealand’s external spy agency to block Chinese Telco Huawei from building a 5G network in New Zealand – due, in part, to concerns over spying and the company’s proximity to China’s ruling communist party – has only increased friction.
Ardern said it was an important visit. ‘‘New Zealand highly values its relationship with China’’. What was intended to be a week long visit with a 30-strong business delegation, jetting over on an air force plane, is now a single day in Beijing travelling commercial, with Ardern’s own staff and foreign affairs and trade officials only.
It was a hard-fought trip Ardern could not afford to postpone, however in the wake of the attacks she could not afford to spend too long away from New Zealand either.
But she is to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and open a new embassy building.
Ardern said New Zealand’s Chinese hosts had been ‘‘increasingly accommodating’’, given the circumstances. Trade Minister David Parker would lead a business delegation to China in the coming months.
But while both sides have acknowledged the relationship as ‘‘challenging’’, complementary statements from Ardern and Chinese Ambassador Wu Xi, were designed to stop the frost and pull trade back on an even keel. Last month, Ardern delivered a statement to assuage fears of a growing rift.