The issues political editor Justin Giovannetti will be keeping an eye on in 2021 (that have nothing to do with Covid-19). New Zealand will be busy in 2021. The border will remain closed to nearly all travellers and Covid-19 will continue to lead the news, but the country has a packed domestic agenda of issues … Read more
New Zealand’s supply of vaccines to the Pacific may cap a critical role in the region’s rising geopolitical tensions, writes Pattrick Smellie of BusinessDesk. Last week’s announcement New Zealand has secured enough vaccinations not only for its own population, but for Pacific Island “neighbour” nations, is significant for more than just the fact that we have a … Read more
Our early success against Covid-19 was lauded the world over. If we want to continue to provide leadership, we need to reinvigorate our approach to foreign affairs, writes Nina Hall. With our borders largely closed, you could be forgiven for thinking that international affairs should take a back seat for a few months. But New … Read more
Diversifying the export economy is a worthy goal – but let’s be realistic about what throwing away a critical relationship with China would mean for New Zealand, writes Stephen Jacobi of the NZ International Business Forum. In a 2018 study of 183 economies’ dependence on China, undertaken by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and … Read more
With reports that several people in New Zealand have been tested for suspected coronavirus – they were all negative – and the WHO declaring the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the New Zealand government yesterday announced entry restrictions for foreign nationals arriving from or transiting through mainland China. Siouxsie Wiles summarises the … Read more
The Court of Appeal has decided that China’s criminal justice system is so flawed that a murder suspect living in New Zealand should not be extradited there. That’s an extraordinary development in the already strained NZ-China relationship, writes law professor Andrew Geddis. I am fortunate enough to be a citizen of three countries – New … Read more
Taking a longer-term view of developments in the China market would help everyone’s stress levels, writes Stephen Jacobi.* These are tense times for trade. The ongoing US-China trade war makes everyone (even me) nervous. So when news broke that the Chinese government wished to see 60% of the infant formula market controlled by Chinese companies within … Read more
On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, New Zealand Chinese writer Tze Ming Mok writes a beautiful, bitter letter to an old friend in Xinjiang, grappling with matters of conscience, community survival, and Anne-Marie Brady’s ‘Magic Weapons’ paper. Originally published in the new collection Life on Volcanoes: Contemporary Essays But where were we? You … Read more
The strength of ties have been tested in recent months. NZ now needs to boost capacity to understand and engage with China, writes Stephen Jacobi of the NZ China Council The last year has been something of a roller-coaster ride for the relationship between New Zealand and China. Against a background of great power rivalry … Read more
In the face of opposition to its involvement in mobile tech roll-outs around the world, the Chinese telecoms behemoth has unleashed a devastating global weapon: the simile. In a series of ads for print, digital and billboards across New Zealand this month, the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei pushed back at the government’s rejection of a … Read more
As commentary and speculation swirls around the state of NZ relations with China, it’s a good time to take a breath and focus instead on the way forward, writes Bethan Greener. Commentary is swirling over Sino-Kiwi relations. Warnings to tourists, the turning back of an Air New Zealand plane from Shanghai, and New Zealand’s refusal … Read more