New Zealand’s bid to find middle ground between Western allies and China not lost on Beijing: experts

Beijing condemned the New Zealand parliament’s motion about abuses in Xinjiang but the removal of the term ‘genocide’ was well-noted

Analysts say China realises there’s a difference between Wellington’s position and the stance taken by other members of the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence-sharing alliance

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shake hands before a meeting in Beijing in 2019. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:00am, 10 May 2021Updated: 11:49am, 10 May 2021

The New Zealand parliament’s unanimous declaration last week that human rights abuses were occurring in China’s Xinjiang province drew condemnation from Beijing, but the removal of the term “genocide” suggested Wellington is unwilling to jeopardise relations, analysts said.

The experts also said the attempt to find a middle ground between New Zealand’s largest trading partner and its “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance – which includes the US, Britain, Australia and Canada, who have all criticised China’s human rights record – will not be lost on Beijing.

Liu Zhiqin, a senior fellow of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China, said there was a “fundamental difference” between Wellington’s position and attempts by Western countries to “interfere in Xinjiang”.

Security guards stand at the gates of a ‘vocational skills education centre’ in Xinjiang in 2018. Photo: Reuters

Liu said there was no need for China to be “overly nervous and over interpret” Wellington’s motion, and that New Zealand had left itself flexibility to clarify its position through further exchanges with China.

Zhiqun Zhu, international relations department chair at Bucknell University in the US, said New Zealand had been pressured by its allies to be tough on China and it would have been “politically incorrect” for Wellington to not criticise Beijing.