Hei told The Front Page podcast it is important because China is a great power and complex due to our countries being very different.
“At times, our interests, values and positions on a number of different issues - from bilateral to international issues - don’t align.”
One of those burgeoning issues is our new Government’s growing interest in joining Aukus Pillar 2 - a security deal between Australia, the UK and the US.
China has already expressed concern over New Zealand’s intrigue in the pact - which centres around technology sharing and advancement.
It’s different to Aukus Pillar 1, which involves Australia acquiring a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine fleet.
The coalition Government’s admission of interest in joining Pillar 2 prompted the most unlikely of collaborators to join forces - with former Prime Minister Helen Clark teaming up with her 2005 election rival Don Brash, penning a joint piece in the New Zealand Herald.
The pair wrote that New Zealand’s interest in Pillar 2 appeared to abandon its independent foreign policy to support America’s policy to contain China.
In it, they urged Prime Minister Chris Luxon to make clear we want no part of “an alliance designed to make an enemy of our largest trading partner”.
Young says there have been obvious statements from China signalling it is uncomfortable with Aukus.
“They’re very critical of it and they interpret it as being about containing China - a sort of security pact aimed at China,” he said.
A joint statement issued by Australia and New Zealand after the countries’ foreign and defence ministers met in Melbourne in early February claimed Aukus was making “a positive contribution toward maintaining peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific”.
The Chinese Embassy in Wellington responded by saying the pact ran counter to “the common interests of regional countries pursuing peace, stability and common security”.
It’s not unusual for New Zealand to want to join its transtasman neighbour in all things defence and security - but, could our involvement make us guilty by association given China’s obvious disdain over the partnership, and its perception of it being solely to block it out of the Pacific.
“They [China] have tried to create a narrative about what Aukus Pilliar 2, and what Aukus, if actually about,” he said, “you can see it on how they talk about Australia, how they talk about the UK and how they talk about the US.
“You see this sort of security co-operation and China making efforts to try to get other countries not to participate in that broader great power competition between the US and China.
“For New Zealand, that becomes more tricky because, of course, we have long-standing and very, very important security and defence relationships with countries like Australia.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more about New Zealand’s relationship with China, our other trading options, and the worries of China’s slowing economy.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
