China heavily criticises New Zealand for 'ulterior motives' after Biden meeting

Chinese officials in Beijing and Wellington have warned New Zealand “all is not rosy” with its largest trading partner, heavily criticising New Zealand for creating “disinformation” with the United States.

The remarkable criticism from Beijing came after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and US President Joe Biden met on Wednesday morning (NZT) and issued a joint statement expressing “concern” that China might establish a military presence in the Pacific and listing “grave concerns” of rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

The statement also said New Zealand and the US would expand their defence co-operation as “the security environment in the Indo-Pacific evolves”.

China foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, at a press conference on Wednesday evening, spoke at length about the NZ-US statement, saying it “distorts and smears China’s normal co-operation with Pacific Island countries” and “deliberately hypes up” China’s internal issues.

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“The hype-up of relevant issues in the joint statement by the US and New Zealand is out of ulterior motives to create disinformation and attack and discredit China.

“The real security threat is that the US has cobbled together military blocs in the region, stimulated an arms race and brought nuclear proliferation risks to the South Pacific.”

He said China urged the US to “abandon its Cold War mentality” and hoped New Zealand would adhere to its independent foreign policy.

A more subtle displeasure was expressed by China’s ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong​, in a speech given at a closed-door meeting of the New Zealand China Council on Tuesday, prior to Ardern’s meeting with Biden.

China's embassy in Wellington published a transcript of Wang's speech on Wednesday afternoon.

He said there were “ample reasons” to be proud of the relationship, and though there might be “slower or faster patches or even blips ... two-way trade and investment have much further to go in the coming years and decades”.

“All is not rosy, however. Indeed, the relationship has got its fair share of challenges, the foremost of which is the way we address the differences between us,” Wang said.

“It is no surprise, nor any secret, that some of these differences are inevitable, given the divergence between us in historical and cultural backgrounds and levels of economic development.”

He said New Zealand’s reputation as a “green, clean, open and friendly country” in China was “arguably the most potent marketing tool for all products and services from NZ”.

“A mutually positive public opinion is arguably the strongest of all pillars for the edifice of this important relationship.

“We have to keep in mind, though, that this asset of ours did not come out of nowhere or as a matter of course, but has been slowly built up with hard work over the years from both sides. Nor can it be taken for granted.”

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta had her first meeting with Wang on Wednesday.

She said the meeting was not related to the NZ-US statement, and the pair “canvassed a range of issues in relation to the Pacific, the bilateral relationship, the fact that we are recognising 50 years of a relationship with China”.

"Our position is very much based on our own values and interests. So we uphold our independent foreign policy.”

Dr Jason Young, the director of Victoria University's Contemporary China Research Centre, said it was new for a Chinese ambassador to describe “mutually positive public perception” as a strong pillar of the NZ-China relationship.

"The argument he's making is that public opinion in New Zealand and in China is important for maintaining a stable relationship and therefore, potentially, as public opinion has shifted here, that makes it harder for the relationship.”

The perception of New Zealand in China, and in its media, was different to that of Australia and the US, he said.

"There's been a view that it's been promoted within Chinese media and some official statements that New Zealand has an independent foreign policy and is therefore making its decisions based on its own interests ... The interpretation of Ardern meeting with Biden in the White House and making a joint statement kind of goes against that to some degree, and therefore was heavily criticised.”

Associate Professor Rob Scollay​, a lecturer in international economics at the University of Auckland, said the ambassador’s comments appeared to be “a fairly moderate way of saying, ‘We’re not happy.’

“It's an illustration of how difficult it's getting for New Zealand to maintain the stance of not taking sides between the United States and China.”

He said the NZ-US statement contained “a huge number of things that are very, very positive” for both countries.

“But you can also find, sprinkled through the joint statement, almost the complete litany of the United States’ complaints against China and that it uses to justify its campaign against China."

This is what China was objecting to, he said.