IRIA News

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi started his visit to New Zealand and Australia in seven years on March 17, 2024. Wang’s visit aims to strengthen China’s bilateral trade relations with New Zealand and Australia.

Wang Yi arrived in New Zealand on March 17. His visit coincides with the 10th anniversary of the year of the signing of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and New Zealand. The accord, inked during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to Wellington in November 2014, began a prosperous era for bilateral trade between the two countries. Since Xi’s visit, the volume of New Zealand’s exports to China has approximately doubled.

Shortly after arriving in Wellington, Wang met with his New Zealand counterpart Winston Peters. “There have been some significant developments since we last met, not least a global pandemic that impacted both our countries,” Peters, who is also deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, said in his opening comments in their formal meeting at New Zealand’s parliament house.

According to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry, Wang stated that China is open to initiating discussions promptly regarding the reduction of barriers to investment in the service sector. Additionally, China aims to collaborate with New Zealand to cultivate fresh sources of economic growth in the digital economy and through technological innovation.

The two foreign ministers discussed the regional security situation. Wang brought up the subject of New Zealand potentially joining the AUKUS alliance, a military agreement involving the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom aimed at collaborating on the advancement of sophisticated weaponry and countering China’s growing influence in the Pacific region.

Beijing has actively opposed the AUKUS which would provide Australia with a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. “[Wang] did raise AUKUS with me and I pointed out the right of countries to organize their defense arrangements if they felt the need to have such arrangements,” Peters said, without giving details.

New Zealand follows a strict anti-nuclear policy, designating all the airspace, land, and sea surrounding the country as a nuclear-free zone. This means that New Zealand would not participate in the submarine agreement, restricting its involvement to “pillar two” of the accord, which focuses on cyber warfare, artificial intelligence, and the advancement of long-range hypersonic missiles.

Wang also met with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon during his visit. A spokesperson for the Prime Minster said that Wang invited Luxon to visit China, and the Chinese leadership invited them to New Zealand but “nothing had been confirmed yet.”

Visit to Australia

On the second leg of his trip, Wang arrived in Australia to meet with Penny Wong, Australia’s Foreign Minister. It marked the highest-level diplomatic engagement between the nations since 2017, occurring against the backdrop of improving relations following a tumultuous period under Australia’s previous government. During this time, trade restrictions were placed on various Australian products, and security tensions escalated across the region.

“A stable relationship between Australia and China doesn’t just happen, it needs ongoing work,” Wong said at a news conference after the meeting. She acknowledged that while significant differences persisted between the nations, efforts to safeguard their shared interests would also prevail.

On March 20, 2024, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held the seventh round of China-Australia Foreign and Strategic Dialogue with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Canberra. pic.twitter.com/yyxhFa0n6f

— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) March 20, 2024

“Australia will always be Australia and China will always be China. However, we will cooperate where we can but disagree where we must and manage these differences wisely,” she said.

One of the topics highlighted during the meeting was the situation involving the detained Australian, Dr. Yang Hengjun, who was convicted of espionage in a trial held behind closed doors. In February, he was handed a death sentence with a two-year prison time. Wong said Australians were shocked by the sentence and the government would not “walk away from our advocacy for Doctor Yang.”

The two also discussed lifting the final trade tariffs, which included duties on wine, rock lobster, and certain abattoirs, imposed by China in 2020 marking the culmination of the latest low point in the bilateral relationship. These tariffs have reportedly inflicted an estimated loss of $13 billion on the Australian economy.

“We’re very proud of our wine and our lobster and our beef and we think Chinese consumers would benefit from all of those products having access to the Chinese market without any impediments,” Wong said. “We think it’s in both countries’ interests.”

Wang also held a short meeting with the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Wang’s visit to Australia comes ahead of a visit by China’s Premier Li Qiang, who is set to travel to Australia later this year as the tensions ease between the two countries.