SYDNEY (Reuters) – New Zealand has said it is “uncomfortable” to expand the role of the Five Eyes, a post-war intelligence group that also includes the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, which was recently China has been criticized.
China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner, and Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said in a speech that New Zealand wants a predictable diplomatic relationship.
New Zealand will find it necessary to raise issues where it does not agree with China, including developments in Hong Kong and the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, she said in a speech to the New Zealand China Council on Monday.
In later comments to the media reported by the New Zealand Newshub, Mahuta said that New Zealand does not have the privilege of invoking the Five Eyes because they have a range of issues that exist outside the competence of the Five Eyes Not, send out.
“We are uncomfortable expanding the competence of the Five Eyes,” she said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeatedly criticized the Five Eyes after all members issued a joint statement in November on the treatment of pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong.
Last month, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said “the Five Eyes have taken coordinated steps to gang China”, after Australia and New Zealand issued a joint statement on Xinjiang.
Last year, the Five Eyes discussed cooperation outside the realm of intelligence, including on critical technologies, Hong Kong, supply chains and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement by Foreign Minister Marise Payne in 2020.
Mahuta’s office told Reuters it could not provide a copy of her comments on the Five Eyes.
Payne travels to New Zealand on Wednesday for meetings with Mahuta and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the first diplomatic visit between neighboring countries since the borders were reopened in both ways.
Canberra recently endured a more rocky relationship with Beijing than Wellington, with Australia’s trade minister unable to get a call with its Chinese counterpart as exporters were hit by several trade sanctions from China.
A diplomatic dispute between China and Australia worsened in 2020 after Canberra campaigned for an international investigation into the source of the coronavirus pandemic.
China and New Zealand upgraded a free trade agreement in January, when Mahuta said trade ministers had a ‘constructive’ call.
(Edited by Kirsty Needham; edited by Michael Perry)