NZ Risks Spat With Australia Over Chinese 'Respect' Comment

The gov't of New Zealand has risked a spat with its nearest neighbour following a comment from its trade minister Damien O'Connor suggesting that the Australian gov't should 'show respect' towards China and act more diplomatically in its dealings with Beijing.

• Relations between Canberra and Beijing remain in a poor state following a call by PM Scott Morrison for an international inquiry into the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. This caused outrage in Beijing, which swiftly imposed a series of trade restrictions on Australian imports.
• New Zealand on the other hand has recently upgraded its trade agreement with China.
• Some in Australia have seen the actions of O'Connor as kow-towing to Beijing in an effort to secure favourable access to Chinese markets for exports such as lamb, wool, beef, and timber, where Australia and New Zealand compete with one another.
• O'Connor sought to dampen down the issue in a call with his Australian counterpart Dan Tehan on Thursday.
• Increasing focus on New Zealand gov'ts rhetoric and actions with regard to China. It did not go unnoticed in Australia, the US, and UK that NZ was the only 'Five Eyes' security alliance member that not sign up to the joint statement condemning the arrest of 55 pro-democracy politicians in Hong Kong earlier in January.