Jacinda Ardern might witter that “family is incredibly important” in global politics, but increasingly, she is developing a roving eye. As Ardern’s eyes and affections drift north across the Pacific, she is more often than not siding with China against her Australasian family.
Once again, she is taking China’s side against Australia.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said China should be allowed to join a lucrative 11-nation trading pact provided it met the minimum requirements, putting her at odds with the Australian government which has signalled it could veto China’s application.
To Ardern’s credit, of course, New Zealand agreed to join Australia’s World Trade Organization action against China (as, it must be noted, did 13 other nations, including Russia). But, heavily weighting the balance against that are Ardern’s other, less creditable, words and deeds: sniping at Australia, and Scott Morrison in particular, over everything from climate change, to illegal immigrants and deporting NZ-born criminals.
Ardern has also weakened the solidarity of the Five Eyes security alliance, by going it alone over Hong Kong when the four other partners issued a joint statement, and by allowing Chinese telco Huawei access to New Zealand’s 5G rollout. She is also inching New Zealand closer to joining China’s notorious Belt and Road Initiative.
Once again, she is putting herself at odds with Australia. Any of the 11 current member nations can veto the application of a potential new member. Australia has already indicated that it would do so. It seems unlikely that either Japan or Vietnam, at least, would welcome China’s membership.
More importantly, though, it seems difficult to square Ardern’s ardour for China with her endless blatherskiting about human rights and “kindness”. It seems more than a bit hypocritical to hug Muslims in Christchurch and then turn around and embrace a brutal persecutor of Muslims in Xinjiang.
Ms Ardern said adequate labour, environmental and human rights standards were already part of the CP-TPP agreement. “Countries who wish to be a part of it, it’s not about making a values judgment, [standards] are embedded in agreement themselves. That really becomes the test,” she said.
A test which China must fail, if such standards are to meet anything.
Ardern’s support for China is also a direct blow to another aspirant to membership.
Taiwan applied to join the group a week after China’s application, creating a tricky diplomatic situation for the group, some of whose members, including Japan and Australia, have strained relations with Beijing.
Hmm. Who to back? A liberal, capitalist democracy, ranked one of the free-est nations in the world? Or a brutal, genocidal communist dictatorship? It seems Jacinda has chosen.
Ms Ardern said China’s treatment of Australia hadn’t altered her government’s own foreign policy, which some analysts have criticised as too close to the communist dictatorship after New Zealand signed up to Beijing’s Belt and Road partnership in 2019.
The Australian
Yes, we’ve noticed. So has China, have no doubts.
Maybe New Zealand couldn’t choose its trans-Tasman family, but Jacinda Ardern is conspicuously choosing her friends.
Please share this article so that others can discover The BFD