KEY POINTS:
The Chinese authorities' crackdown on the Tibetan protesters could not have come at a more delicate time for Prime Minister Helen Clark.
In three weeks she will sign a free trade deal in Beijing with China's top leadership, deepening New Zealand's economic integration with the country that is
widely perceived as the main growth engine for the 21st century.
The PM can rightly expect to bask in the Western world's attention as the details of what will be China's first bilateral free trade deal with a fully developed nation are unveiled. This is another and the most important first in the string of firsts which underpins New Zealand's relationship with China.
But the Tibetan crisis adds an unexpected frisson to the upcoming celebrations. If this crisis is not resolved by the time Helen Clark enters Beijing's Great Hall of the People to celebrate the occasion with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, the eyes of the world will be on her for a different reason.
The CNN and BBC interviewers will want to be reassured that New Zealand did stay true to its own historic principles and urge China to move further to ensure human rights are respected, not simply sell out its principles in return for a free trade deal. Helen Clark is after all the politician who was sufficiently independent to orchestrate New Zealand's anti-nuclear legislation against the wishes of the United States.
The Chinese word weiji or crisis is often (but not completely accurately) interpreted as representing danger and opportunity
Helen Clark's cautious initial responses yesterday appeared to be underpinned by an official perception that she might endanger the free-trade deal, if she went so far as to criticise the Chinese authorities' response.
Her comments were surprisingly timid for a politician who is a keen student of international affairs - so timid as to provoke United Future's Peter Dunne to urge her to take advantage of the Government's privileged relationship with the Chinese leadership to urge them to respect human rights in Tibet.
Therein lies the opportunity.
By close of play yesterday she had expressed New Zealand's "deep concern at the violence" and urged Chinese authorities to react carefully and proportionately.
But she can go much further than this.
Helen Clark has a huge diplomatic opportunity ahead of her.
She will arrive in Beijing fresh from a meeting with political leaders of other social democratic governments in London. This places her as a message bearer on behalf of the Western world should she choose to do so.
Right through the long free trade negotiations, Clark's senior ministers have been careful not to provoke hostility from Labour backbenchers, trade unions and other political parties that are concerned at China's human rights record.
The free trade deal will be accompanied by statements on environment and human rights ideals. But they are merely statements, not part of the formal agreement.
The Tibetan crisis has inevitably awakened strong feelings among New Zealanders who hold the expression of human freedoms dearly.
Helen Clark needs to deal with the issue quickly if the upcoming FTA signing is to be seen as a political plus.
