December 2, 2023

Spinning at the Edge of the World - New Zealand's Policy toward China

Spinning at the Edge of the World – New Zealand’s Policy toward China

Increased tensions in the Indo-Pacific region led to the creation of the Oaks Defense Pact, to which it is no coincidence that New Zealand is not a party. Wellington, which has long been involved in anti-nuclear diplomacy, is looking to placate Beijing.

Beautiful, but defenseless due to the lack of natural enemies (once) – New Zealand’s national bird, the kiwi, moves through the bushes at night.

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Geopolitical tensions between the People’s Republic of China on the one hand and the United States on the other seem not to play a major role for New Zealand for long. Now the new alliance between New Zealand’s great neighbors Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (Aukus) is causing new thinking in Wellington. The tiny South Pacific nation of five million has plunged into difficult waters with its cautious foreign policy. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has yet to answer the question of how New Zealand would position itself in the event of a military conflict. Another drawback is that the new alliance is also based on cooperation in non-military fields, in which the state will not participate now either.

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