"NZ opposed to expanding Five Eyes to include China" Topic

Having previously refused to condemn China with other Five Eyes partners, New Zealand is now openly expressing its opposition to expand Five Eyes intelligence remit to include criticism of China.

She says New Zealand is developing a more "independent" policy to China.

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Given NZ signed yet another trade deal with China and then berated Australia for its attitude to China, I suspect by "independent" NZ means closer to China.

So much for ANZAC unity.

They are separate countries, and differences in policy are sure to arise (as you should be well aware). That doesn't mean ANZAC unity is a thing of the past.

New Xiland. A country near Australia which has embraced China.

I don't really care; let China spill its guts to NZ and they can tell us….

Pretty soon Xi is going to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Yep, they seem to be a Chinese surrogate now.

"New Xiland"!

I like the spelling, and what it connotes, but not their stance on China.

Just goes to show what happens when your country relies so heavily, financially on them. A cautionary tale for others, including much, much larger ones, like the USA.

Yep, I imagine the top leadership of the majority party in New Xiland should go through a financial audit to see how much Chinese $$$ they've hidden away…

Having read the article – but only this article – I'm with Ms Mahuta on this one. Maybe I'm now too out of date, but my understanding of 5-eyes is the same as hers – an intelligence sharing community, not a political/influence ops/media organisation. Do the CIA, MI6 or S/G/A/M/J2 issue political statements on behalf of their governments?

If we have concerns about NZ's reliability should this not be the other way round? Surely AUSCANUKUS would be excluding NZ from shared intelligence on China if there was a perceived issue?

Seems to me intelligence people should gather & analyse intelligence (in this case on China). What should be done with that intelligence and how states should respond is a political decision for our duly elected politicians (Lord love 'em). Therein, to my mind, lies the vital difference between elected politicians and unelected public servants.

Woollygooseuk,

Given the way of the world, there Is an attempt to expand 5 Eyes into more than just intelligence sharing.

US is after allies against China and using existing arrangements is seen to be easier than establishing new ones.

NZ is increasingly not interested in this and is pursuing an active policy of becoming more friendly with China.

Indeed this year the NZ trade minister berated Australia for not showing enough respect to China.

link

The 2016 New Zealand defence White Paper doesn't even mention China as a defence issue and instead notes climate change is the biggest defence priority/concern.

Indeed it mentions Antarctica (35 times) more than China (14 mentions).

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And the defence paper confirmed NZ military is primarily a humanitarian response force than a fighting force. The only real combat power New Zealand has (2 ageing undergunned frigates) aren't scheduled for replacement until 2030s and then replacement is not guaranteed. They are still trying to offload a large chunk of their LAV fleet too.

Vast difference to approach than up to 1980s when NZ provided actual capabilities in SE Asia.

So another former proud nation giving up and selling out. Check.

Simple solution: Buy everything we export.

5 Eyes is about Sharing Intel to help Stabilize threat areas around the world in ways that help reduce the use of force. Part of that structure is to identify and blunt regional threats like the PRC, lest we forget they murdered about 80+ million of their own citizens within living memory, and are even now threatening Invasion of Taiwan and putting Uighurs in concentration camps. They fought us in Korea and attempted to invade Vietnam, too. Idiot NZ Government.

Five Eyes: Is The Five Eyes Alliance In Trouble Over China?

bbc.com/news/world-56970640

Armand