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© Thomson Reuters 2021.New Zealand defends absence from joint statement on WHO coronavirus report
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Luddite
New Zealand arse licking China.
Zaphod
Translation: We want to understand how we can avoid making our CCP paymasters angry.
Sven Asai
I wouldn’t go so far in this case, appeasing China directly and such. It’s simply Ardern’s & Co. quite left-wing biased course, Not more, but of course, also not less.
Toasted Heretic
New Zealand is a small but mighty clever nation. It won't be bullied by any of the superstates.
And if the centerist JA riles up the crazed critics, all the better for it.
Which is not to say the Beijing regime should get away with it's various schemes. But neither should Putin's Russia or the Great Satan.
It's tough being a small country and not caving into pressure from any of these rogue nations.
Antiquesaving
OK so NZ wants not to upset China it's number one trading partner.
Now does anyone think Canada was going to say anything different than the USA? It's number one trading partner and with China even more upset with Canada, it cannot afford any more Buy America stuff or cancelled pipelines. UK, now needs the USA as a friend even more with 90% of the EU ganging up on it,
Do I believe or trust China? Not in a million years!
Do I believe or trust the USA? Only a tiny bit more than China, meaning not much, especially after the last few years how it treated Canada, now how it hoards Vaccine, it's buy America stance then threatens retaliation if Canada doesn't buy it Junk.
Two bullies neither can be trusted.
Ricky Kaminski13
History will be the judge of all of this.
Fighto!
Shocked to see South Korea has signed this statement condemning the biased WHO, considering they are a puppet State of Commie PRC.
Hope to see NZ sign it soon, and all other freedom-loving nations. The more pressure on the corrupt pro-China WHO, the better the chance of it being dissolved forever.
Zaphod
Fighto!
Are you confusing North and South Korea?
geronimo2006
Of course each country wants to carry out its own assessment. And I seriously doubt NZ is doing so because of its trade relationship with China. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if China rewards NZ is some way in order to sow the seeds of distrust among the Five Eyes.
Fighto!
Nope. SK under Moon is more aligned with Commie China now than the anti-China alliance. Their non-invitation to the QUAD force is evidence they cant be trusted.
Jimizo
You are very anti-China and very anti-South Korea.
What’s the Aussie angle on this? Australia has long been criticized for being too close and reliant on China despite a minor spat recently.
Your lack of criticism for your home country is conspicuous and suspicious by its absence.
kyushubill
Xi the Pooh has his tentacles everywhere.
blvtzpk
Mods: Typo in the title.
It should be ‘absence’ not absense.’
Moderator
Thank you for pointing it out. It has now been corrected.
Toasted Heretic
They are no more a puppet state of China than Australia is.
And China, unfortunately, is not remotely communist. It's an authoritarian regime that has betrayed the tenets of communism.
Peter14
NZ are a small modern nation with no fighter jets, three active warships and a very small army with no tanks or rocket systems. Australia, its ANZAC partner is unable to stand alone against China and could not protect NZ against China. NZ must not just play "follow the leader" and must weigh its prosperity and future carefully taking its huge military limitations into account.
It is good to stand with your friends but from time to time it is nice to remind everyone that you are actually a sovereign nation with your own particular concerns and point of view.
Antiquesaving
Sounds all so familiar, let's see oh right the 60s,70s,80s with Vietnam, Iran (Remember the Shah), Philippines ( remember Marcos), Chile ( yep nice freedom loving Pinochet) and the list goes on.
And I repeat it again neither can be trusted.
RichardPearce
That maybe New Zealand remembers the 'WMDs in Iraq' fiasco, where no one questioning the conspiracy theory cost millions of lives, couldn't possibly be the reason for this.
No, the ONLY possible reason for not appeasing the US is, apparently, wanting to appease China.
yoshisan88
FYI back on 28 Jan January on ABC News Australia:
New Zealand Trade Minister advises Australia to show China more 'respect'
The Federal Government is fuming after New Zealand's Trade Minister suggested Australia could mend ties with China by showing its government more "respect."
China and Australia are mired in several disputes and Beijing has targeted multiple Australian exports with sanctions, although the campaign of economic punishment has not escalated further so far this year.
In contrast, New Zealand this week formally signed an upgrade to its 2008 free trade deal with China.
Money talks. It is the hard truth. At the end of the day, JA and Co are just another bunch of politicians. I laugh every time I read things saying how great she is.
Wolfpack
This and NZ not joining in with allies to condemn the crackdown in Hong Kong gives away the game. PM Ardern has been bought off by the CCP. In a sense you can see the calculation she is making due to the decline in American influence and China’s relative rise. This is one important area where America’s debt is playing into geopolitical calculations. America can no longer afford to continue to project the military power to match the regional strength of China. This failure to keep its finances in order will result in allies pulling back as they focus on their own national interests.
theFu
Except China. With NZ$billions at stake, can't say I blame them.
But until the West makes a concerted, coordinated, effort to disengage from China, we'll be funding their military build up, aggressive behaviors towards Taiwan, ongoing abuses in Tibet, systematic rapes of Uyghurs, and anti-Democracy efforts in Hong Kong.