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New Zealand
ChinaPolitics

New Zealand bans Huawei from 5G, China has message for New Zealand

  • Uncertainty over bilateral ties has affected everything from flights to tourism, one of the largest drivers of the Kiwi economy
  • PM Jacinda Ardern says the relationship is complex – can Beijing and Wellington kiss and make up?

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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hangs auspicious red flags on a lion dancing costume during the 2019 Lunar New Year festival in Auckland. Photo: Xinhua
Meaghan Tobin
From offering mobile payment services such as WePay and Alipay to hiring front-desk staff proficient in Mandarin, the New Zealand Chinese Travel and Tourism Association was not short of advice for Kiwi tourism operators on how to benefit from an influx of mainland Chinese visitors to New Zealand this year.

“Chinese tourists enjoy spontaneous travel so there are a lot of last minute bookings. For businesses who’d like to attract Chinese tourists, this is the major challenge for them,” association chairman Simon Cheung said in a promotional video.

But preparations for the 2019 China-New Zealand Year of Tourism – a campaign by both governments to strengthen economic and bilateral ties – were cast in doubt when China postponed the launch event, which was expected to take place in Wellington next week.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday acknowledged that the country’s relationship was complex and not without challenges, but dismissed talk there was a rift. But she revealed that dates for her first official trip to China, planned for the end of last year, still had not been finalised.

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“I have been issued with an invitation to visit China, that has not changed. We continue to find dates that would work,” she said.

Her admission fuelled concerns from opposition parties and the media that ties, already tense after Ardern’s government blocked Chinese telecom giant Huawei from the nationwide roll-out of a 5G data network over “significant national security concerns”, were deteriorating further.
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Reports say an Air New Zealand flight en route to Shanghai may have been turned back to Auckland over how paperwork on board the plane referred to Taiwan. Photo: Alamy
Reports say an Air New Zealand flight en route to Shanghai may have been turned back to Auckland over how paperwork on board the plane referred to Taiwan. Photo: Alamy

Last weekend, an Air New Zealand flight en route to Shanghai was turned back to Auckland, with some reports suggesting it was due to how paperwork on board the plane had referred to Taiwan. According to Bloomberg, the airline said the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was not yet certified to fly to China, but had been “unfortunately assigned” the flight.

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