Jacinda Ardern on Xi-Trudeau encounter ahead of meeting China’s president Xi Jinping. Video / NZ Herald
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says China’s President Xi Jinping’s confrontation with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would not affect the way she dealt with her own meeting with Xi today, but she was “cautious” about what she shared from her talks with other leaders.
Ardern will have her own face to face meeting with Xi on the sidelines of the Apec Summit in Bangkok at about 9.30pm NZ time – and before that she will have an informal “pull-aside” with Trudeau at about 11am.
It is part of a busy day of meetings for Ardern, including brief pull-aside meetings with US Vice President Kamala Harris and a formal meeting with Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo. Xi, Trudeau and Widodo have all come fresh from the G20 Summit in Indonesia where Russia was a major talking point.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in 2019. Photo / Supplied
Yesterday, video showed Xi reprimanding Trudeau for “leaking”, saying it was inappropriate that Canadian media had been briefed about details of their meeting, including that Trudeau had challenged Xi about Chinese interference in Canadian politics. The conversation was in front of some media.
Ardern said it was up to those leaders to comment on their exchanges, noting it was not unusual for leaders to converse outside of formal meeting but it was “a little less often that they are recorded”.
She said she took a “consistent” approach in interactions with China, and said privately what she had said publicly.
“In terms of sharing what is discussed, you’ll also know that I will share and do share main themes. But I am cautious about not transacting everything leaders talk about, simply because it’s just the practice we have of making sure there are things we can talk about behind closed doors.”
She said that was not intended as a comment on whether Canada was remiss in briefing media on the issue after its message. “That’s just not our place.”
She said there was no evidence Canada’s concerns about interference in its elections also applied to New Zealand, although New Zealand was not “naive” about the possibility of that happening.
She would not say if she would raise it herself and also pointed to Russia as a potential threat when it came to foreign interference.
“I don’t take the position of running through every single bullet point I’m likely to raise, in part because they are conversations. They’re not so heavily scripted that every single part is measured out.”
She said there were areas of agreement and dissension. “I make sure I raise both in the national interest.”
Ardern will also attend the first day of the Apec leaders’ meetings. While geo-political tensions such as Russia and Ukraine, Myanmar, North Korea and the US-China competition in the Indo-Pacific were hanging over the economic summit, they all had economic ramifications.
Ardern said she would tell Xi she was keen to visit China for a trade delegation once China’s Covid-19 restrictions eased enough to allow it, she did not intend to raise the Covid-19 restrictions still in place in China.
Ardern last visited China in 2019 – but dealing with the aftermath of the Christchurch terror attack meant it was a shortened 24-hour visit. She had promised to return.
While Ardern has been strongly promoting the “reopening” of New Zealand on her international travels, there remain stricter restrictions in China than other countries. Ardern said that did have a wider economic impact, but it was up to each country to manage Covid-19 in the way it deemed fit.
“It is clearly a statement of fact that economic forecasters have made predictions off the back of any decision where we don’t see a free flow of people in particular. We know it has an economic impact, but it’s not for us to give our view on what is ultimately a domestic decision for China, regardless of the ramifications it has.”
The items on Ardern’s topic list include the tensions between the US and China in the Indo-Pacific, and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Both Australian PM Anthony Albanese and French President Emmanuel Macron have raised Russia with Xi to encourage him to use his closer relationship with Russia to mediate to try and end the war.
Ardern said it was not a coordinated campaign by the leaders, but she did believe they should be trying every avenue possible to get Russia to halt the war.
Ardern would also be focusing on trade in her talks – China is New Zealand’s biggest trading partner – as well as climate change.
She said she intended to focus on areas of cooperation as well as bones of contention, such as concerns about China’s actions in the South China Sea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and its treatment of the Uyghur people. She said the relationship with China should not be defined by the areas of disagreement, but she did need to raise them.
“We will always raise the areas we have concerns about. We need to make sure we have an environment we can do that without retaliatory acts.”
She said none of those issues would come as a surprise to Xi.
Meeting with South Korea’s PM covers North Korea, and a free trade upgrade
Yesterday, Ardern met with South Korea’s new Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, pledging New Zealand would continue to enforce sanctions on North Korea and voicing concern about the increase in ballistic missile firings from the dictator state.
PM Jacinda Ardern meets South Korea Prime Minister Han Duck-soo at the Apec Summit in Bangkok. Photo / NZME
Ardern said the escalation of missile launches and threats of nuclear testing were of “grave concern” to the region, and especially to North Korea.
“So I was highlighting our concerns, but also the role we played in ensuring sanctions were upheld against North Korea which we are committed to.”
In his opening comments, Han referred to his hopes for an improved free trade agreement with New Zealand as the New Zealand-Korea agreement is reviewed.
Han, a free trade advocate, was instrumental in that trade agreement which was signed in 2015 and is now being reviewed.
Ardern said they discussed trade, including the CPTPP, which Korea is not a signatory to.
It is Ardern’s first time meeting Han, who became Prime Minister for the second time in his political career in May this year. He also served as Korea’s Prime Minister in 2007 and 2008.
A former ambassador to the United States and a Harvard scholar he worked on the negotiations from 2007 and had previously visited New Zealand on a fellowship.
Good and bad – five items on PM Jacinda Ardern’s list for Xi meeting
The economy: China’s economic slowdown and how that impacts the region along with hits from Covid-19 and the Ukraine war.
Russia: Adding Ardern’s voice to others asking China to talk to Russia about its war in Ukraine.
The Indo-Pacific: Hearing Xi’s view on whether his meeting with US President Joe Biden might ease tension in the region.
Trade: A visit to China for a delegation once Covid-19 restrictions in China ease.
