After concluding his trade visits to Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, New Zealand Prime Minister Lacson openly stated that out of consideration for respecting the "one-China" policy, he would not make any "visits" to the Taiwan region during his term of office, and would only strengthen economic ties with the Taiwan region.
With regard to economic and trade exchanges between foreign countries and the Taiwan region, the Chinese mainland has long expressed its position that it has no objection to nongovernmental economic and cultural exchanges, but resolutely opposes any form of official ties between the two sides.
Member of the Cabinet of the Government of New Zealand
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying pointed out that Singapore's adherence to the "one-China" policy and proper handling of relevant matters are conducive to the healthy development of China-New Zealand relations.
As one of the core members of the "Five Eyes" alliance, it can be said that it is relatively rare for New Zealand to eliminate external interference, find a correct position between China and the United States, and not completely follow the United States on diplomatic issues.
On the one hand, this is because China and New Zealand are aware of the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and will not easily probe on key issues related to China's core interests, and on the other hand, because China and New Zealand have close economic and trade ties, this kind of stable cooperation at the economic level has also become the ballast stone of bilateral relations.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Singapore, the bilateral trade volume has increased from the initial S$7 million to more than S$40 billion, especially since the signing of the free trade agreement between China and New Zealand, the annual growth rate of New Zealand's trade exports to China has almost remained above 10%.
China-New Zealand relations
As the world's second largest economy and the largest manufacturing country, China can provide New Zealand with a broad market and bring more development opportunities.
It is for this reason that even in the context of very tense relations between China and the United States, New Zealand still insists on maintaining stable cooperation with China, and China also attaches great importance to New Zealand.
As a country in the core circle of allies of the United States, New Zealand can maintain close ties with China, and for us, it is also a breakthrough for China to tear apart the encirclement of China by the United States.
This is not to say that we need to draw New Zealand closer to China, but to rely on the soft power of economic and trade ties to allow New Zealand to maintain pragmatic cooperation with China on its own initiative.
Busy Chinese ports
China has always disapproved of the practice of forming cliques and forming cliques, let alone taking the initiative to force other countries to choose sides.
However, if New Zealand and Australia, which are allies of the United States, refuse to follow the United States in participating in the containment of China because they choose to have a good relationship with China pragmatically from the perspective of safeguarding their own economic development interests, then other countries on the "periphery" of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy will know how to make a choice.
Therefore, this is a two-way process, the United States is unpopular with the gang, and China's idea of mutual benefit and win-win results is the long-term way, and it can be widely recognized by other countries in the world.
In March this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited New Zealand and was cordially received by New Zealand Prime Minister Lacson, who smiled and clasped Foreign Minister Wang Yi's hand to express his welcome to China.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and New Zealand Prime Minister Jackson
Laxson also made a commitment to the Chinese side in person, saying that New Zealand attaches great importance to its relations with China, will continue to adhere to the "one China" policy, and further strengthen high-level exchanges with the Chinese side.
China also actively reciprocated New Zealand's enthusiasm, expressed its willingness to become a reliable strategic partner of New Zealand in the fields of scientific and technological innovation and infrastructure construction, bring more development opportunities to New Zealand, and welcome New Zealand to continue to participate in the cooperation of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Speaking about China-New Zealand relations, Foreign Minister Wang Yi also stressed that China and New Zealand have no historical grievances, let alone actual disputes, and that the two countries share extensive common interests, and should respect each other's core interests and major concerns, so that mutual benefit and win-win results should always be the main tone of China-New Zealand relations.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi's remarks seem to have been listened to by New Zealand, so it is very cautious on Taiwan-related issues to avoid creating unnecessary noise in China-New Zealand relations.
The Chinese and New Zealand Commerce Ministers met
However, it should be emphasized that it is not enough for New Zealand to make commitments, but also to fulfill its commitments into concrete actions, and abide by the "one China" principle in words and deeds. Taking the United States as an example, it has always expressed its respect for the "one China" policy in words, but in practice it has often sent wrong signals to the island.
New Zealand should remain sober on this issue, abide by its commitments to China, and respond to China's expectations with concrete actions, so as not to live up to China's goodwill, and China and New Zealand can carry out more practical cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, so as to write a new chapter for the future development of bilateral relations.