New Zealand plans to set new China policy, will not let ‘Five Eyes’ dictate dealings
April 19, 2021, 9:36 am

New Zealand plans to set new China policy, will not let ‘Five Eyes’ dictate dealings

New Zealand's Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta (C) attend a cabinet meeting at the Parliament House in Wellington on November 6, 2020. (File photo: AFP)

New Zealand said Monday it would not let the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence alliance dictate its dealings with its largest trading partner China, in the latest distancing from the US-led group’s approach to tensions with Beijing.

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta told the New Zealand China Council that the Five Eyes -- the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand -- should not stray from its scope of intelligence-sharing between member nations.

“We are uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes relationship,” she said. “We would much rather prefer to look for multilateral opportunities to express our interests on a number of issues.”

New Zealand has previously been reluctant to sign joint statements from Five Eyes partners criticizing China, including on the crackdown on Hong Kong’s democracy movement and the recent arrests of activists in the city.

Officials in New Zealand have not previously addressed the issue but Mahuta said Wellington wanted to chart its own course in dealings with China.

“New Zealand has been very clear... not to invoke the Five Eyes as the first point of contact on messaging out on a range of issues,” she said.

“So we’ve not favored that type of approach and have expressed that to Five Eyes partners.”

The comments come just months after Trade Minister Damien O’Connor urged Australia to show more “respect” to Beijing.

New Zealand officials have also been careful not to directly criticize China’s expanding influence in the Pacific, unlike their US and Australian counterparts.

In her speech, Mahuta raised the “major risk” posed by high levels of debt in the Pacific but stopped short of calling out China for what some critics have described as its “debt-trap diplomacy” in the region.

Mahuta took over the foreign affairs portfolio after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s re-election last year.

Her remarks further expose the growing divide on Beijing between New Zealand and partners like Australia, and come just days ahead of a planned meeting with her Australian counterpart Marise Payne.

New Zealand recently sealed an upgraded free trade agreement with China.

In contrast, Canberra’s robust criticism of Beijing on issues such as Hong Kong and the treatment of Uyghurs has resulted in punitive levies on more than a dozen Australian imports, including wine and barley.

source: AFP

Image source: AFP

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
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