{"id":623,"date":"2021-05-04T09:28:15","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T06:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/?p=623"},"modified":"2021-05-04T09:28:16","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T06:28:16","slug":"harder-to-reconcile-with-differences-in-chinas-system-and-values-new-zealand-pm-jacinda-ardern-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/harder-to-reconcile-with-differences-in-chinas-system-and-values-new-zealand-pm-jacinda-ardern-says\/","title":{"rendered":"HARDER TO RECONCILE WITH DIFFERENCES IN CHINA\u2019S SYSTEM AND VALUES, NEW ZEALAND PM JACINDA ARDERN, SAYS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Standart. <\/a>3 May 2021<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Below is an article published by The Standart<\/a>. Photo:AFP.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took a tougher stance on China\u2019s human rights record Monday by saying it was getting harder to reconcile differences as China\u2019s role in the world grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

While Ardern\u2019s language remained moderate when compared with that of many other leaders, it still marked a significant shift for a country which relies on China as its largest trading partner. Ardern in past speeches has often avoided direct criticism of China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Zealand has been trying to strike the right tone on China in recent weeks after finding itself on the defensive with its Five Eyes security allies by resisting speaking out in unison with them against China on certain human rights issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta caused a diplomatic stir last month when she discussed her reluctance to expand the role of the Five Eyes to include joint positions on human rights. The alliance among New Zealand, the U.S., the U.K, Australia and Canada has its origins in World War II cooperation.The Standard Channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her speech to the China Business Summit in Auckland on Monday, Ardern said New Zealand has raised \u201cgrave\u201d concerns with China on human rights issues, including the situation of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region and people who live in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd it will not have escaped the attention of anyone here that as China\u2019s role in the world grows and changes, the differences between our systems \u2013 and the interests and values that shape those systems \u2013 are becoming harder to reconcile,\u201d Ardern told the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a challenge that we, and many other countries across the Indo-Pacific region, but also in Europe and other regions, are also grappling with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ardern said how China treated its partners was important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hope that China sees it in its own core interests to act in the world in ways that are consistent with its responsibilities as a growing power, including as a permanent member of the UN Security Council,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s Ambassador to New Zealand, Wu Xi, who also spoke at the event, warned that Hong Kong and Xinjiang-related issues were China\u2019s internal affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hope that the New Zealand side could hold an objective and a just a position, abide by international law and not interfere in China\u2019s internal affairs so as to maintain the sound development of our bilateral relations,\u201d she said in her speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Noakes, the director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Auckland, said he wouldn\u2019t have expected to hear such language from New Zealand even a couple of years ago. He said some of it sounded like a wink to the Five Eyes to let them know that although New Zealand might have economic dependencies on China, it wasn\u2019t being soft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noakes said that because China\u2019s relationships with both Australia and Canada have deteriorated so rapidly in the last few years, it has made New Zealand\u2019s rosier relationship stick out like a sore thumb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Noakes said, he didn\u2019t expect the change in New Zealand\u2019s rhetoric to have any negative impact on its trade with China. And he said New Zealand\u2019s relatively moderate stance could make it a useful go-between in the future between China and other Five Eyes members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Zealand has stopped short of calling the Uyghur abuses genocide, language that the U.S. and some other countries have used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Zealand\u2019s cultural and economic ties to China are particularly strong among the Five Eyes allies. New Zealand was the first developed nation to sign a free trade deal with China in 2008, leading to a boom in exports of New Zealand milk powder and other products. China now buys twice as much from New Zealand as New Zealand\u2019s next biggest market, Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Standart. 3 May 2021 Below is an article published by The Standart. Photo:AFP. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took a tougher stance on China\u2019s human rights record Monday by saying it was getting harder to reconcile differences as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":625,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions\/625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}