New Zealand represents itself as a liberal Democracy
It’s in a security alliance with four other democracies
But it’s having a hard time standing up to China
So whose side is New Zealand on?
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
resigned as prime minister in January after almost six years in office.
Officially she resigned because of burnout.
Buuuuut, “her approval ratings [had] plummeted at home, jeopardizing her re-election prospects.”
Many people think she resigned so she didn’t have to face defeat in the next election.
Which I can relate to—I hate losing too. Which is why, once I become Supreme Leader for life,
there won’t *be* any elections after that. Problem solved!
Internationally Ardern was known as a liberal icon
who was all about a “politics of kindness”. Which — if you follow politics — sounds like
an oxymoron. Kind politics is like a no-touch massage ... that’s just a nap with company.
Ardern promised that her Labour Party would lead a “government of transformation.”
Now if the Labour Party had taken on transforming avocado toast, that might have been doable. Throw
on an egg, maybe some radishes, that’s a transformed toast. But a whole country?
No wonder they had to switch it to “foundational change.”
There *were* some changes during her tenure though. The
country banned semi-automatic guns after the Christchurch shooting.
The cost of living went up over 8 percent last year.
Single-use plastics will mostly be banned by 2025.
And she almost got her name on a new “cow fart” tax, but that bill didn’t make it through
Parliament by the time she left. Yes in New Zealand, even cows have to pay for climate change.
Honestly, I’d be okay with taxing some humans who fart. Especially in
airplanes . I don’t care if we’re 40,000 feet in the air, we’re still living in a society!
But one thing that didn’t change under Ardern was New Zealand’s cozy relationship with China.
Now you might think that given her progressive bona fides, Ardern would
be vocal about China’s human rights abuses. After all, “empathy” was kind of her thing.
But her track record on calling out China for its human rights abuses was a solid F.
That’s not empathy, that’s empa-fail. New Zealand did release a statement with
Australia expressing “grave concerns” about China’s treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
They had to tag along with Australia… just to say they’re concerned? I’ve seen
interventions with stronger language. And that was over drinking and not, you know… genocide!
And on Hong Kong, the government released several
statements expressing more “concerns” about the Chinese Communist Party taking it over.
I assume the Uyghurs and Hongkongers are also concerned… that expressing concern
is as far as New Zealand was willing to go.
But Ardern’s Labour Party made sure any mention of “genocide” was removed
from a motion on Uyghur persecution before it was even debated in Parliament.
And earlier that year, New Zealand bowed out of a joint statement condemning arrests in
Hong Kong under the National Security Law. While it supported other countries’ sanctions
over Hong Kong, New Zealand didn’t implement any itself.
Because committing genocide and imprisoning political dissidents is one thing.
But calling them out on it? That doesn’t sound like the politics of empathy.
Before a trip to China in 2019, Human Rights Watch called on Ardern to say
something publicly about China’s human rights abuses. Which she didn’t.“For
years New Zealand has relied almost exclusively on ‘private diplomacy’ on human rights,
a practice Chinese officials prefer because it enables them to behave as if
such discussions have never taken place at all.” More important though, there’s no loss of face.
The Chinese Communist Party can’t stand people calling out its human rights abuses publicly.
Kind of like what I’m doing right now. So definitely don’t share this video. Wouldn’t
want to upset the CCP now, would we? But that’s actually the least of New
Zealand’s cowardice when it comes to China. I’ll tell you more, after the break.
Welcome back. New Zealand is part of an
intelligence sharing network called the Five Eyes. It was started after WWII and includes the US, UK,
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. For years now, New Zealand has
been considered a weak link in the network because of its ties to China.
And if we’re being honest, also because of Thor: Love and Thunder . How could
they let Taika Waititi put out a stinker like that? Step up your game, New Zealand!
Both New Zealand’s Labour Party and National Party
have had scandals involving Chinese spies in Parliament.
If you want to know more, I’ll leave a link to our episode on that down below.
There have also been allegations of illegal Chinese money and influence
in New Zealand’s elections – again, in both of its main political parties.
I know, this is shocking. Both rival political parties… can actually agree on something!
Why, that would be downright heartwarming, if it wasn’t corruption they agreed on.
In 2018, former CIA analyst Peter Mattis told US lawmakers that both Australia
and New Zealand had been compromised by Chinese influence in their governments.
But he was particularly concerned about New Zealand because of how it reacted to the threat.
He said “In New Zealand, both the last prime minister, Bill English,
and Jacinda Ardern have denied that there’s a problem at all.”
“I think that at some level the Five Eyes or the Four Eyes need to have a discussion
about whether or not New Zealand can remain, given this problem with the political core.”
And that’s a tough discussion. On the one hand, can you trust New Zealand, who seems
to be compromised and not willing to admit it? And on the other, if you do kick them out, then
the organization will be called “Four Eyes” , and that just makes them sound like a bunch of dorks.
This isn’t just about Ardern though. New Zealand’s relationship with China
has been problematic for years. Peter Mattis mentioned former Prime
Minister Bill English, the leader of the New Zealand’s conservative National Party.
When he was in office, he signed New Zealand up for China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The reason most other Western countries didn’t
sign up is because...it’s a horrible deal, and a trap.
The idea is that the Belt and Road Initiative helps countries build up their infrastructure.
China offers countries cheap loans, materials, and labor, which is especially attractive to poor
countries that couldn’t get loans otherwise. But that’s where the gravy train ends.
China has been known to install spyware in its infrastructure,
to take over projects when the country can’t pay back the loan
or build infrastructure that’s so crappy, the country can’t even use it.
Essentially, China is spying, trying to seize control, and building low
quality products. Who could have guessed that would have happened?
That’s like renting an AirBnB from Amber Heard and being shocked to find the bedsheets aren’t clean.
Now nothing has ever come of New Zealand’s Belt and Road agreement, except some paper.
However under Ardern, the government didn’t stop it from auto-renewing last year, so maybe there’s
a chance something will happen with it. I don’t know, New Zealand. This isn’t something you can
really go halfsies on. You’re either in China’s pocket or you’re in the Five Eyes. You can’t have
your transformed avocado toast and eat it too. But trade relations between China and New Zealand
get even chummier than that. I’ll explain why this is such a problem, right after the break.
Welcome back. In 2008, New Zealand Labour Prime Minister Helen
Clark signed free trade agreement with China. Ardern’s government signed a revised free
trade agreement again in 2021. So while New Zealand is already on
its second round of a trade deal with China, and it says it’s working on one with the EU,
it doesn’t have anything with the US. The reason I mention this is because
New Zealand very conspicuously says that at the top of the government’s trade website.
It’s almost like they’re proud they have a better trade relationship with China than the US.
Which is like being proud that instead of using the postal service,
you send all your mail via a courier penguin .
Man, it’s no wonder people want them out of the Five Eyes. That’s like spitting in the United
States’ eye and then sharing it on social media. New Zealand was also the first western country to
support China’s membership into the World Trade Organization,
which turned out to be great for China, but mostly a disaster for the rest of the world.
Which is kind of the MO for all of China’s policies.
Does New Zealand like China because they’re into bad boys or something? Grow up,
New Zealand. Bad boys might be fun to date, but they’ll never make a good long-term partner.
And yet, New Zealand has become so totally dependent on China.
China is New Zealand’s biggest trading partner—and by a lot. Last year, China bought almost a quarter
of all of New Zealand’s exports. Agricultural products like meat
and dairy are New Zealand’s biggest exports. Besides underwhelming Taika Waititi films .
China buys up about a third of all of all of New Zealand’s dairy exports
And about 40% of its meat.
Essentially, China has made itself the center of New Zealand’s economy, which is a huuuuge reason
for New Zealand’s politicians to keep their mouths shut about China’s human rights abuses.
Oh, so “kind politics” is actually short for “kind of short-sighted politics.” Gotcha.
New Zealand’s in a major cost-of-living crisis,
and it’s also dealing with a weak economy thanks to Covid.
If China were to pull the plug on New Zealand imports right now,
it would be devastating to the economy.
As the head of the New Zealand’s International Business Forum put it,
“New Zealand has a lot at stake in this relationship,” “[It has] no domestic market
to rely on and [It can’t] replace Chinese consumption anywhere else in the world.”
So yeah, China has New Zealand between a rock and hard place. Which isn’t a surprise
because A) that’s what China does, and B) New Zealand is like 90% rocks and hard places .
And it’s not like some abstract fear that China will use trade to retaliate if New
Zealand says things Beijing doesn’t like. New Zealand watched China do
exactly that to Australia in 2020. After Australian Prime Minister
Scott Morrison called for an independent investigation into the origins for Covid,
China put an unofficial trade ban on Australian wine, lobsters, timber, barley and coal.
I’m not sure if China thought this ban would somehow fly under the radar,
but nothing says “guilty” like “I’m going to punish you for trying to investigate me.”
Now New Zealand exports are also a big deal for China. At one point, China said New Zealand
made up *half* of its dairy imports. For more on why China’s so crazy about
New Zealand dairy, check out this interview we did with a New Zealand farmer. I’ll put a
link to that in the description below But as you can see, New Zealand has
basically joined itself at the hip to China, and this is why the government
walks on eggshells when it says anything that the Chinese regime might consider sensitive.
Things like, “They’re actively committing genocide.” Whoops. Again, definitely don’t
share this video. Wouldn’t want to upset the Chinese Communist Party, would you?
When New Zealand said it wanted its foreign policy to be separate from the Five Eyes,
many people read this as New Zealand saying it wouldn’t
be joining the US coalition against China anytime soon.
Even when talking about China’s blatant aggression in the region,
Ardern euphemistically called it “assertiveness”. And instead of saying China’s a trade threat,
she framed the need to diversify the countries New Zealand sells to as being about “resilience.”
Those are some impressive euphemisms. That’s like calling a rear naked choke a “hug with benefits.”
New Zealand’s foreign minister was a little more blunt though. She predicted
New Zealand would find itself at the center of a trade storm with China and warned exporters
to start finding other markets. But Ardern is out of office now,
and you’re probably wondering what the new Prime Minister’s take on China is.
Well, until the next election in October, Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins is the prime minister.
There was some optimism at the start that he would do better at standing up to China,
saying he’ll “voice disagreements”... buuut in the same breath,
he called the relationship “very important” And he said a trip to China is a “high priority.”
I’m not mad, New Zealand. I’m not even disappointed.
Because to be disappointed, I’d need to be surprised.
Oh, and he also said “’Our foreign policy position hasn’t changed just
because there’s a change of prime minister.’”
Because in New Zealand, both political parties actually agree… on corruption.
So yeah, don’t hold your breath. New Zealand’s not going to be standing up to China anytime soon,
at least not unless it’s forced to. You know… maybe being called
“Four eyes” isn’t so bad after all.
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from a fan who supports
China Uncensored on the crowdfunding platform Patreon, or the social media platform Locals.
Xinnie the Pooh on Patreon asks: “If China decides to invade Taiwan and US comes to Taiwan's aid,
what would happen to all the Chinese nationals living in the US? Remember
what Roosevelt did following the Pearl Harbor attack.....
Well Xinnie, if you’re worried that the US is going to round up Chinese nationals
or Chinese Americans and put them into internment camps like in World War II,
I don’t think it’s going to come to that.
Even if the US actually gets into a war with China.
For one, those internment camps were declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court.
In 2018. Ok, so it took them a while.
But there’s also no reason for the US government to round people up
into camps to make sure they’re not a national security threat. This is
the 21st century! The US government can just spy on everyone’s phones, instead.
Thanks for your question and your support, Xinnie the Pooh.
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We rely on you to keep making great episodes. Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.