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full screen Image from a meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters earlier this year. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/AP/TT
New Zealand criticizes China for interfering with the security policy situation in the South Pacific, the area where the island nation is located.
– China has long been present in the Pacific but we are seriously concerned about the increasing activity in the security sectors, said Foreign Minister Winston Peters in a speech on relations with China, in Auckland.
The criticism is seen as daring and unusual because China is New Zealand’s main export market, not least for agricultural products such as meat and dairy products. New Zealand has also long been seen as a Western country that has been on good terms with China.
But the country notes with concern that China is trying to persuade island nations in the Pacific to ease ties with the West and choose China instead. A pact between Beijing and the Solomon Islands is an example.
Chinese ships, whether coast guard, research or military vessels, are becoming an increasingly common sight in the Pacific.
The government Peters represents has shown that it is less favorably disposed to China than previous governments. Earlier this year, Peters urged New Zealanders to consider joining the so-called Aukus cooperation, a defense technology pact between Australia, Britain and the United States. China believes that the tip of the Aukus cooperation is aimed at China.