In his opening remarks to Wang, Peters said the day was a “valuable opportunity to reflect on the challenges and opportunities that are now before us.
“We appreciate the opportunity to co-operate with China bilaterally, and to work together on regional and international issues of importance to both of our countries.
“We are looking forward to reconnecting with you and to our discussions today across the breadth of our bilateral relationship,” he said.
It is Wang’s first visit to New Zealand in seven years. His last visit was 2017, and he also visited in 2014. He met with Peters this afternoon and will enjoy a courtesy call with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon later in the day. The same treatment was afforded to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited the previous government last year.
The Global Times, a Chinese propaganda tabloid, said the visit was of significance given the noises made by the coalition parties about linking up with with the non-nuclear pillar 2 of the Aukus nuclear submarine pact.
The paper quoted Yu Lei, professor at Shandong University saying New Zealand was at risk of “coercion from Washington and its allies”.
Winston Peters and Wang Yi in Wellington. Photo / Thomas Coughlan
Yu warned New Zealand’s domestic politics and political parties have significant ties with the US and Australia, making them susceptible to influence. The paper noted the New Zealand Government had increasingly signed on to US-led condemnations of events in Xinjiang and Hong Kong as well as the “Taiwan question” and “South China Sea disputes”.
The paper argued the United States was attempting to court New Zealand for Aukus in a bid to reduce “dissent[ing] voices.
“The US and its allies have been exerting pressure on New Zealand on China-related issues and trying to affect its relations with China, Wellington needs to properly manage the relationship between New Zealand and the US and that between New Zealand and its largest trading partner China,” Chen Hong, director of the New Zealand Studies Centre at East China Normal University, told the paper.
The paper said New Zealand’s three-way coalition could lead to “challenges” for bilateral ties, but did not specify what these were.
It said Wang would look to address differences between the two countries and “manage the divergent views between the two sides in order to promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations”.
Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.
