{"id":689,"date":"2021-05-31T19:41:15","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T16:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/?p=689"},"modified":"2021-05-31T19:41:16","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T16:41:16","slug":"ardern-and-morrison-present-united-front-on-china-warning-of-those-who-seek-to-divide-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/ardern-and-morrison-present-united-front-on-china-warning-of-those-who-seek-to-divide-us\/","title":{"rendered":"ARDERN AND MORRISON PRESENT UNITED FRONT ON CHINA, WARNING OF \u2018THOSE WHO SEEK TO DIVIDE US\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Guardian<\/a>. 31 May 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Below is an article published by The Guardian<\/a>. Photo:James Allan\/Getty Images.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has warned that \u201cthere are those far from here that would seek to divide us\u201d, during a press conference with his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Ardern, that focused on how the two countries handle China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leaders emphasised unity in the face of Beijing\u2019s increasing regional influence and Morrison said any forces trying to scupper the partnership would not succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The question of how to respond to the rise of China \u2013 and perceived differences in the two countries\u2019 approaches \u2013 dominated both prime ministers\u2019 comments at their first in-person talks since the pandemic began. Talking to the press in Queenstown, New Zealand, on Monday, Ardern and Morrison sought to present a united front on China and international trade and security issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have no doubt there will be those who seek to undermine Australia and New Zealand\u2019s security by trying to create points of difference that are not there,\u201d Morrison said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the \u201cdirect personal relationship\u201d between him and Ardern \u201cwill only continue, because we have common challenges. There are common threats.\u201dAdvertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the initial comments on \u201cthose who seek to divide\u201d were made in response to questions on China, Morrison would not comment on whether he was referring to the country directly. \u201cPeople always try to divide New Zealand, all over the place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ardern was forced to defend New Zealand\u2019s position, which has been characterised in the Australian press as soft or cosying up to Beijing. \u201c[I] directly and strongly refute the assertion that NZ is doing anything other than taking a very principled position on human rights issues, on trade issues as they relate to China,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt no point in our discussions today did I detect any difference in our relative positions on the importance of maintaining a very strong and principled perspective\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morrison answered with a straight \u201cno\u201d when asked if New Zealand had \u2018sold its soul\u2019 to China. \u201cAustralia and New Zealand are trading nations, but neither of us would ever trade our sovereignty or our values,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ardern said the two countries had \u201cbroadly been positioned in exactly the same place\u201d on major human rights and trade policy statements. New Zealand has joined Australia on a number of key statements raising concerns about China\u2019s conduct in Hong Kong and Xinjiang \u2013 but its stance has been interpreted as softer across the Tasman. In April, the foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta, said New Zealand was \u201cuncomfortable\u201d expanding its invocation of the Five Eyes alliance with Australia, Canada, the UK and the US beyond intelligence matters, into wider policy statements. That stance has led some to call New Zealand the \u201cweak link\u201d of the alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Ardern shot down the proposition that New Zealand\u2019s standing in the Five Eyes network could be downgraded. \u201cThe answer to that question is no,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe carry responsibility for ourselves to ensure adequate investment in our defence forces \u2013 and equally, that we carry our weight as a member of the intelligence and security community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referring to the two allies\u2019 strong historic relationship, Morrison said the two nations had carved out \u201ca uniquely Anzac path through Covid-19\u201d and \u201cmust also continue to pursue an Anzac path through the other issues\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morrison had opened talks with brief comments referencing regional pressures created by China. \u201cThe broader issue of the Indo-Pacific and a free and open Indo-Pacific is something that Australia and New Zealand feels very strongly about,\u201d he said. \u201cAll of us have a big stake in ensuring a world that favours freedom and a free and open Indo-Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Indo-Pacific includes the hotly contested South China Sea, where China has been increasing its military presence and island-building \u2013 dumping sand on to small atolls to create larger islands that can host military bases. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has said those efforts \u201cmay undermine peace, security and stability\u201d in the region. The Australian military is actively patrolling the South China Sea, and in May, the New Zealand defence minister, Peeni Henare, said the country\u2019s navy would be joining a British flotilla tour of the Indo-Pacific and South China Sea later this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked directly about the prospect of conflict with China over the South China Sea or Taiwan, Morrison responded that \u201cthe world is being characterised by increased strategic competition between the United States and China\u201d, but that competition \u201cdoesn\u2019t need to lead to increased likelihood of conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Australia and New Zealand are highly dependent on China for trade. China accounts for around 30% of New Zealand\u2019s exports, and $33bn of total trade. China is also Australia\u2019s largest export market, but over the past year, that\u2019s been hurt by a deteriorating relationship between Canberra and Beijing in a trade war that cost Australia an estimated $47.7bn last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on the table was New Zealand\u2019s frustration at Australia\u2019s \u201c501\u201d policy of deporting citizens who commit a crime \u2013 even if they have lived in Australia for most of their lives. The policy has been a simmering \u201csore point\u201d between the two nations, Mahuta has said. At the last set of talks between the two leaders, Ardern publicly rebuked Morrison for the policy. \u201cDo not deport your people and your problems,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, Ardern said she had once again made clear New Zealand\u2019s position on the deportations. The issue seems to be at a stalemate, with no movement from Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite those disagreements,Ardern also continued to emphasise the connections between the two nations, saying that \u201cwhen we talk about Australia and New Zealand being family, being wh\u0101nau <\/em>[the M\u0101ori word for extended family], we actually mean that quite literally as much as we mean it symbolically\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs with any family, we will have our differences from time to time but those differences are still undertaken in the spirit of openness and ultimately friendship. We are much bigger than our differences \u2013 the last year has taught us that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A joint statement released by the two leaders outlined the countries\u2019 shared positions, which included statements on Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and \u201cserious concern over developments in the South China Sea, including the continued militarisation of disputed features and an intensification of destabilising activities at sea\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also outlined a series of positions that, while not referencing China specifically, point to shared concerns over Beijing\u2019s influence in the region. They committed to supporting sovereign states in the Indo-Pacific, and said those countries must be able to \u201cpursue their interests free from coercion\u201d. They also cited shared commitments to \u201ccountering foreign interference\u201d. Both leaders \u201cexpressed concern over harmful economic coercion and agreed to work with partners to tackle security and economic challenges.\u201d On Saturday, New Zealand opted to join as a third party in Australia\u2019s dispute with China over punitive tariffs on barley, as it goes to the WTO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Guardian. 31 May 2021 Below is an article published by The Guardian. Photo:James Allan\/Getty Images. The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has warned that \u201cthere are those far from here that would seek to divide us\u201d, during a press conference with his<\/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\/689"}],"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=689"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":690,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689\/revisions\/690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}