On December 11, the Australian East Asia Forum published an article entitled "There is nothing new in the New Zealand National Party-led China policy", which was written by Yang Jiesheng, director of the New Zealand Center for Contemporary China Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. The following is an excerpt from the full text:
After six years in Labor's rule, New Zealand has a new term led by the National Party. What does this mean for New Zealand's China policy?Will there be a major change in the way New Zealand's most complex relationships are handled?
The short answer is no. Given New Zealand's priorities, China's policies and the geostrategic environment, significant changes are unlikely.
Then-Prime Minister Hipkins' speech at the New Zealand China Business Summit in July outlined New Zealand's current approach to China. Hipkins set out three principles – engaging and cooperating in areas of mutual interest, taking action to secure New Zealand's interests, and working with partners.
New Zealand seeks to manage differences in the relationship between the two countries, pushing back in areas of concern while maintaining the conditions for a mutually beneficial relationship. It is a balancing strategy that emphasizes challenges, risks, and opportunities, and seeks to prudently manage the relationship between the two countries. It is unlikely that the incoming new ** will abandon this strategy.
The National Party's own election manifesto says the same. Its focus is on strengthening relationships with traditional partners, emphasizing the importance of a rules-based system of interaction between sovereign states, and promoting vibrant relationships. This suggests that there will be more consistency than change in New Zealand's China policy.
As an opposition party, the Nationalist Party has avoided criticizing the management of relations with China and has often expressed support for policies on challenging issues and has recently sent a delegation to China.
This shows that there is a strong consensus between the two parties on China policy. This consensus is widely supported by the public, with the public sector having a complex understanding of risks and opportunities, and the business community recognising the value of the China+* strategy.
Like the previous one, the new will seek to balance a series of competing priorities in the relationship between the two countries.
The first is the interior. New Zealand's mixed-proportional electoral system means that the National Party must form an alliance with the liberal right-wing New Zealand Action Party and the populist New Zealand First party.
DAP has made it clear that it has a tough stance on China, while Priority has said it is taking a populist approach to China and further developing New Zealand's more traditional partnerships. The National Party needs to manage these positions and weaken the edge of its coalition partners' stance on China. This means maintaining the current balancing strategy, rather than changing it completely.
Similarly, the National Party, which has historically focused on promoting business and relations in foreign affairs – China was the focus of their last administration – has scored key victories on the business front. For the incoming National Party leader, it makes sense to focus on maintaining important economic relationships while developing relationships with other markets and key diplomatic and security partners.
The new ** is likely to lift the ban on live animal exports to China, and more measures may be taken to encourage Chinese companies to bid for infrastructure projects in New Zealand. The new ** is likely to encourage Chinese EV companies to make further forays into New Zealand and resume sending ** delegations to China on a regular basis.
However, with the change of **, the problems of reality will not go away easily. We need to continue to approach these issues in a pragmatic and prudent manner to avoid an Australian-style relationship breakdown.
All this shows that in handling relations with China, New Zealand should adopt a strategy of seeking progress while maintaining stability -- seeking a mutually beneficial relationship to promote New Zealand's interests.