China yesterday accused New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of making “wrong and thus regrettable” statements that were unhelpful for keeping the two countries’ relationship “on the right track.”
Ardern attended the NATO leaders’ summit in Spain this week, saying in a speech on Wednesday that China had become “more assertive and more willing to challenge international rules and norms.”
The Chinese embassy in Wellington yesterday said that it had taken note of Ardern’s “misguided” accusations.
Photo: Reuters
“That allegation is wrong and thus regrettable,” the embassy said in a statement posted on its Web site. “It is obvious that such comment is not helpful for deepening mutual trust between the two countries, or for the efforts made by the two countries to keep our bilateral relations on the right track.”
It is the second time in a month that China has taken issue with comments by Ardern.
Early last month, the New Zealand leader and US President Joe Biden issued a joint statement expressing concern over the possibility of China establishing “a persistent military presence in the Pacific.”
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) accused the two leaders at the time of trying to “deliberately hype up” China’s internal issues, and said their statement “distorts and smears China’s normal cooperation with Pacific island countries.”
In her address at the NATO summit, Ardern said that while Europe faced tensions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Pacific was also experiencing “mounting pressure on the international rules-based order.”
China in April signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, raising fears it could open the door to a Chinese military presence in the South Pacific.
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