As tensions ratchet up in the Pacific, foreign minister Winston Peters has landed in Beijing for scheduled meetings. He’ll have a lot to discuss, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin.
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Warships inch closer to Australian coast
The Chinese warships undertaking live firing exercises in the Tasman Sea have moved closer to the Australian coast, according to Australia and New Zealand military monitors. By yesterday the ships were 218 nautical miles east of Tasmania – around 60 nautical miles nearer than they were at the start of the week, RNZ reports. As Shanti Mathias explains this morning on The Spinoff, the warships are still safely in international waters and there is no suggestion that China has acted illegally. Still, the Australian and NZ governments are clearly unnerved by the surprise naval drills in their own backyard.
Lack of warning a key concern
Defence minister Judith Collins told Morning Report the exercises happened on “a couple of hours’ notice”, much less than the 12-24 hours usually needed to alert civil aviation. In fact a Virgin Australia pilot was the first to alert air traffic control of the live-fire exercises, before any official notification was received, the ABC reports. The pilot picked up warnings via an emergency radio frequency while mid-flight on Friday morning; a short time later, a New Zealand-bound Emirates flight was directly warned by one of the warships involved.
Trans-Tasman flights were diverted throughout the weekend as a precautionary measure, with the diversions finally lifted on Monday morning once the warships had moved further south.
China attacks ‘unreasonable’ response
While both governments have been careful not to openly criticise China, their stated concerns about the exercises have still ruffled feathers in Beijing. The Chinese government says reactions have been “unreasonable” and denies it failed to give sufficient prior warning. Meanwhile the state-controlled Global Times accuses “certain countries” of double standards, arguing they are exploiting the so-called “China threat” in the Pacific to expand defence budgets. “It is clear who is flexing military muscle, causing trouble, and using ‘freedom of navigation’ as a guise for military intimidation, thereby undermining regional peace and stability,” writes columnist Zhang Junshe.
China’s sabre rattling in the Tasman Sea may end up as an own goal, writes law professor Alexander Gillespie in The Conversation. “Because while it might prefer New Zealand to operate a more independent foreign policy – balancing its relations with east and west – the opposite may now be more likely.” The events of the past week, and China’s recent moves in the Pacific, could make the benefits of joining the Aukus defence pact an easier sell to a sceptical NZ public, Gillespie argues.
Peters gets face time with Beijing ministers
With China and New Zealand also drawn into diplomatic quarrels involving Kiribati and the Cook Islands in recent weeks, it’s safe to say Winston Peters will have plenty to discuss when he meets with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing today. The globetrotting foreign minister is spending two days in China, then heading to Mongolia and South Korea to discuss economic opportunities, agriculture and tourism, before returning home on Sunday.
