Australian and New Zealand leaders’ talks focus on China

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Australian and New Zealand prime ministers met on Tuesday to discuss China’s importance to their national economies and decided to air their disagreements with their key trading partner, which is growing more assertive in their region.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins made Australia the destination of his first trip abroad as Prime Minister since his predecessor Jacinda Ardern announced her surprise resignation in January.

The visit to Australia’s Parliament House comes two weeks after Hipkins took office on January 25. He used a joint press conference with his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, to pledge that he would maintain New Zealand’s foreign policy stance.

“Our foreign policy position hasn’t changed just because the prime minister has changed,” Hipkins said. “The government’s foreign policy is the same as it was under Prime Minister Ardern.”

A reporter told Hipkins that Ardern has been hesitant to speak out against “bad behavior by China” and asked if he was concerned about Chinese coercion in the South Pacific.

“China is an incredibly important partner for New Zealand, a very important trading partner and also a partner in other areas,” Hipkins replied. “That doesn’t mean there won’t be areas on which we disagree from time to time and we will continue to voice our disagreements with China when that happens and we will always strive to strengthen these ongoing relationships.” “

Albanese said Australia’s national interest includes restoring good trade and economic ties with China.

“Our position towards China is clear that we will cooperate where we can, we will disagree where we must and we will stand up for our national interests,” Albanese said.

The centre-left Albanese government is rebuilding Australia’s trade ties with China after bilateral ties reached new depths in the nine years in power of the previous Conservative government.

Chinese and Australian trade ministers held their first meeting in more than three years on Monday to take a major step towards normalizing relations.

Official and unofficial barriers to trade in Australian products such as coal, beef, seafood, barley and timber cost Australian exporters AUD 20 billion (US$14 billion) annually. The obstacles are largely seen as Beijing punishing the previous government for disagreements, including Australian calls for an independent inquiry into the origins and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some say New Zealand has avoided such trade retaliation by avoiding criticizing China.

New Zealand found itself on the defensive with its Five Eyes security allies – the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia – in 2021 by refusing to join them in speaking out against China on certain human rights issues.

The Prime Ministers of New Zealand and Australia on Tuesday discussed their economies, security and climate change. Both countries are also trying to improve cooperation with their South Pacific island neighbors to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

China made some bold geopolitical moves in the Pacific in 2022, first signing a security pact with the Solomon Islands and then trying — unsuccessfully — to get 10 Pacific nations to sign a sweeping agreement covering everything from security to fisheries.

Rod McGuirk, The Associated Press

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