Beijing has slammed the joint statement by the New Zealand and the United States governments that expressed “grave concerns” on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) human rights violation record and its current bid to expand influence in the Pacific region.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian claimed the statement smeared the CCP’s “cooperation” with Pacific Island countries and that issues in relation to Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong were “internal affairs.”
He also accused the two governments of having ulterior motives to “create disinformation” about China.
In the statement, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said they opposed the unlawful maritime claims and activities in the South China Sea and reiterated their grave concerns about human rights violations in Xinjiang and the erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong.
They emphasised the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and “encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.”
Both also noted “growing strategic competition” in the Pacific and the security agreement between the CCP and the Solomon Islands due to concerns it would “fundamentally alter the strategic balance of the region and pose national-security concerns to both our countries.”
Zhao also directly addressed the New Zealand government and said the small nation should “adhere to its independent foreign policy,” insinuating that its government should further itself from American policy influence.
Chinese state-run mouthpiece Global Times described New Zealand as “leaning toward” the United States’ concerns about China’s role in the region.
It also accused New Zealand of being unable to “withstand” pressure from the United States and parroting its “anti-China rhetoric.”
With Beijing’s economic coercion of Australia as an example of CCP retaliation to actions the regime disapproves of, there are questions about whether this could affect New Zealand’s economic relationship with its biggest trading partner.
Robert Patman, an international relations expert from Otago University, said while this could signal some implications to New Zealand trade, he believes Beijing still makes a “distinction” between the two trans-Tasman nations.
But Geoffrey Miller, an international analyst at New Zealand’s Victoria University’s Democracy Project, said the comments were reminiscent of comments made by Beijing to Australia before it rolled out sweeping trade tariffs.
Meanwhile, New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta met with the Chinese ambassador in a pre-arranged meeting on Thursday morning but said there had not been enough time to bring up the joint statement.
“It was a meet and greet meeting. It canvased a range of issues in relation to the Pacific, the bilateral relationship, the fact we are recognising 50 years of a relationship with China,” Mahuta said.
But the ambassador, Wang Xiaolong, threatened New Zealand in a speech to the New Zealand China Council, saying the country should not take its largest trading partner “for granted.”
The joint statement was released following Ardern’s meeting with Biden in the White House on Tuesday in Washington.
