A new Chinese ambassador who has previously worked on the country’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has arrived in New Zealand, prompting speculation Beijing is planning to focus on deepening economic ties with New Zealand as the two countries navigate growing diplomatic challenges.
Wang Xiaolong (王小龍) previously served as director-general of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of International Economic Affairs. In that role, Wang helped oversee the BRI — which seeks to deepen economic ties between China and other countries, and is a key focus of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
The initiative has prompted some skepticism from world governments, particularly those in the West, about Beijing’s motives, with claims the BRI is largely an influence operation. Last month, the EU announced Global Gateway, a 300 billion euros (US$343.8 billion euros) infrastructure spending project aimed at countering the BRI.
Wang appears to be more of a peacemaker figure than the crop of “wolf warrior” diplomats in other foreign postings. In October, he said that some decoupling between the US and China was inevitable, particularly over technology.
He called for China to recognize not just the challenge posed by the US, but also its own growing strength and “the rise of our influence and power to shape the global narrative.”
Given Wang’s background, discussions about New Zealand involvement in the BRI could grow, said Jason Young, director of the Contemporary China Research Centre at Victoria University, who said that the economic relationship between the two had “held up really well compared to some other countries.”
There was some interest in the BRI under former New Zealand prime minister John Key’s center-right government. In 2017, China and New Zealand signed a “memorandum of agreement” to develop a plan for New Zealand involvement.
However ,that engagement stalled following the 2017 election of a Labour-New Zealand First coalition, which took a more skeptical view of the BRI amid reports that it involved “debt-trap diplomacy,” with some poorer countries unable to repay Chinese loans for BRI projects.
Last year, Wellington indicated a willingness to work with China on “mutually beneficial” BRI projects with an environmental emphasis.
It remains unclear what that would involve.
Young said the New Zealand-China relationship has also come under pressure due to China’s “far more illiberal” tendencies in recent years, including economic coercion of Australia and repressive policies in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
These challenges prompted New Zealand to criticize China more vocally than previously. It has occasionally signed on to criticisms of China issued by more hawkish Anglosphere countries Australia, the US, Canada and the UK.
The government has expressed concern this could lead to trade repercussions. In an interview with the Guardian last year, New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta warned exporters to prepare for a potential “storm” of anger from China.
New Zealand officials have also become more cautious about the implications of growing Chinese aggression for the Indo-Pacific and New Zealand itself. A recent report by the New Zealand Ministry of Defence warned that the country faces “a substantially more challenging environment” due, in part, to China’s “increasingly strong nationalist narrative.”
Despite these challenges, New Zealand’s relationship with China remains relatively stable, Young said.
“If I were a guessing man, I would suggest [Wang’s] focus will be on maintaining the relationship, in the sense of not having a deterioration like that [which] we saw in Australia,” he said.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
RSS