New Zealand, Australia play down differences on China

WELLINGTON AFP May31, 2021 -  New Zealand and Australia downplayed policy differences on China Monday, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern denying Wellington was taking a soft stance on human rights to avoid offending its largest trading partner.   

Ardern’s government has taken flak over its meek criticisms of China’s rights record, while Australia’s more outspoken position has drawn punitive trade measures from Beijing.   

The centre-left New Zealand leader insisted the trans-Tasman allies were lock-step on attitudes towards China after holding talks with her Australian counterpart Scott Morrison in the South Island mountain retreat of Queenstown.   

The pair issued a joint statement expressing “deep concern” at the erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong and the treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority in China’s Xinjiang province.   

 “You’ll see that Australia and New Zealand have broadly been positioned in exactly the same place on these issues consistently,” Ardern told reporters.