Ryan Bridge spoke with the Chinese ambassador, Wu Xi, on the AM show on Thursday morning 31 October. The link to Part 1 on China’s Sovereignty, USA Interference in Hong Kong & Freedom of Speech in NZ, People to People Exchanges and Hong Kong is here.
Ryan:
What about Ann-Marie Brady, and this has been a very thorny issue for many in NZ, and has been the subject of discussion within a parliamentary select committee here in NZ, she is an academic of some 25 years and has said that she has felt intimidated, that her office has been broken into, that her home has been broken into, she says her car has been tampered with and she blames ah… Chinese operatives for this – be it someone from the embassy or somebody from mainland China. Is any of that true?
Wu:
I don’t think it’s true. It’s totally wrong to accuse China’s government to do… to have any connection with her case.
Ryan:
Do you think…
Wu:
…and I… I believe the NZ Police already have a… already reached a conclusion on that.
Ryan:
Did they…
Wu:
We respect… we respect the conclusions by the NZ Police. They didn’t find anything in relation with China.
Ryan:
Did they interview anyone from your embassy about that? And what did you tell them?
Wu:
Why should they interview us for things which has nothing to do with us?
Ryan:
Do you think Anne-Marie Brady is making this up?
Wu:
I beg your pardon?
Ryan:
Do you think Anne-Marie Brady is lying?
Wu:
Some of the… some of the people always want to promote themselves by one way or the other.
Ryan:
Okay, let’s move on and talk about the 5G issue and 5G and Huawei and the NZ spies, our GCSB, has said that it’s not okay for Huawei to be involved in the roll out of 5G with 2 Degrees. This has been an ongoing thorny issue between our governments. Are you any clearer on whether that could proceed? Do you still want that to proceed?
Wu:
Huawei leads in 5G technology in the international market and Huawei has been operating in NZ for many years in cooperation with local telecommunication companies and Huawei provides quality services with competitive price. So, we hope that Huawei will be treated fairly in [the] NZ market. As a matter of fact, a lot of countries has already choose to work with Huawei 5G network and I think it’s a smart way to do so. So, I hope there will be more smart people following those countries who have chose to work with Huawei for their 5G network.
Ryan:
Madam ambassador, do you think that you are not getting a fair deal when it comes to NZ? You’ve been treated unfairly.
Wu:
I… I hope that through our cooperation our companies will be fairly treated in the NZ market and as a matter of fact a lot of companies operating in NZ, and they have good cooperation here, and they create jobs and they cement our bilateral economic cooperation.
Ryan:
Madam ambassador, just finally, there are many people in this country who have a great love for China and a great love for, not only the people that have come here, but also for the business exchanges between our two nations, what do you hope for the future relationship between our countries?
Wu:
It’s a promising relationship and it’s an important relationship. We have a close cooperation in economy, in trade, investment and in people to people exchanges and I hope we will further expand our mutually beneficial relationship so as to bring more tangible benefits to our own peoples and make contributions to the peace and stability and the prosperity in this region and beyond.
Ryan:
Madam ambassador thank you very much for your time this morning.