New Zealand In Awkward Spot As Tension Between Australia And China Soars

May 06, 2021 08:03 PM PDT | By Team Kalkine Media

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New Zealand In Awkward Spot As Tension Between Australia And China Soars — Image source: danielo, Shutterstock

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Summary

China has been criticised for its policies on Hong Kong and Uyghurs by the Five Eyes alliance.

New Zealand took a diplomatic stand and Australia faced the maximum burns from China as the latter also questioned about the origin of the novel coronavirus.

China banned Australian imports into its country like wine, coal, etc due to which Australia suffered huge losses of nearly $20 billion.

Along with New Zealand, all the Five Eyes alliance members, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, are at loggerheads with the Beijing Government over their stance on the way they have dealt with Uyghur minority population in the Xinjiang region of China.

Recently, a vote for the motion was passed in the House of Commons on the issue and labelled its genocide and crimes against humanity.

Source: © Nionx | Megapixl.com

However, New Zealand was criticised heavily by the other group members for not standing up against China. NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated that the country has an independent foreign policy and works in the national interest and at the same time does not believe in groupism.

Must Read: Ardern denounced as UK MPs announce genocide in China

Australia And China On Business Suspension

However, Australia is facing the maximum wrath from China as apart from criticising China on the above issue, it had also sought answers for the origin of the deadly coronavirus, which is creating havoc around the around. Moreover, it has banned Huawei from working on the country's 5G network.

Australia has faced a massive trading loss of about $20 billion as the Beijing Government has put a halt on its lobster, wine, barley as well as on coal imports.

However, this did not deter the Australian Government from taking a stand against China and condemning its actions. The same was praised by the MPs at the House Of Commons too.

Nonetheless, the Canberra Government is coming up aggressively and taking upon China on other issues like- the South China Sea and Taiwan.

This has put immense pressure on New Zealand as on one side stands its neighbour, Australia, with whom the country shares a valuable relationship and boasts of Trans- Tasman ties, whereas on the other side, there is China, NZ’s largest trading partner.

NZ Values Relations With Both AU And China

Nanaia Mahuta, NZ Minister of Foreign Affairs, expressed since both the countries are of prime importance to Aotearoa, it has put the latter in a rather difficult position.

Mahuta stated that inspite of being a small country, NZ values its bilateral and multilateral ties with its nearest neighbours and gives importance to its trading relationships as well.

Aotearoa In A Fix In An Event Of A Possible Armed Conflict

Paul Buchanan, a leading defence analyst, opined that in case of the remotest possibility of the emergence of any armed conflict between Australia and China, New Zealand would find itself in a rather awkward position. This is because it would be expected from New Zealand to take sides.

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