A prominent New Zealand lawmaker called yesterday for a radical rethink of his country's relations with Taiwan, urging the government to ignore China and seek closer ties with Taipei.
United Future's leader, Peter Dunne, said relations between Taiwan and New Zealand had suffered "because of timidity bordering on abject cowardice from [New Zealand's] Ministry of Foreign Affairs that is pathologically scared stiff of doing anything to upset mainland China."
Dunne, who has recently just returned from leading a small delegation of fellow lawmakers to Taiwan, said Wellington should seal a free trade deal with Taipei similar to a recently concluded deal with Singapore.
He said that even New Zealand's parliament restricts Web site mentions of Taiwanese and Tibetan friendship groups for fear of upsetting the Chinese.
"As a result of silly pettiness like this, we have more limited relations with Taiwan than do Canada and Australia, yet both follow the same `one China' policy we do," he said.
New Zealand policy classifies Taiwan as a part of China.
Dunne, the sole member of his party in Parliament, was a minister in various governments during the past 20 years.
He called for annual visits to Taiwan by New Zealand ministers, who currently restrict their visits to three-yearly trips to discuss economic issues.
Dunne said there should be reciprocal visits by Taiwanese ministers for a full range of bilateral discussions, and New Zealand should support Taiwan's inclusion in international bodies like the WTO and the UN.
Asked about Dunne's comments, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday in Hong Kong that her country's recognition of China and the "one China" policy have not changed.
Trade with Taiwan is important, but "we have no plans to formalize that," Clark said. Clark added that Dunne's party is supported by less than 1 percent of New Zealand's voters.
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