The plans China has in the Pacific to integrate Police forces, telecommunications and expand their Fishing Militia bases which have traditionally been used to encroach and take other nations fishing grounds are proof positive that the Cold War in the Pacific is now heating up…
China ‘risks new Cold War’ as it pursues strategic alliances in Pacific
Beijing has been accused of risking a new “Cold War” with the West after it emerged that China’s foreign minister is pursuing a regional deal with almost a dozen Pacific islands including heightened security co-operation.
The five-year plan signals Beijing’s intent to significantly expand its footprint in the Indo-Pacific region. It is set to be discussed by Wang Yi and his Pacific counterparts in Fiji on May 30, as China’s foreign minister embarks on a tour of the region starting on Thursday.
But in a letter sent to 21 Pacific leaders, David Panuelo, the president of the Federated States of Micronesia, said his nation would argue the “pre-determined joint communique” should be rejected because it could prompt a new “Cold War” between China and the West, according to Reuters.
The plan would shift Pacific Islands that hold diplomatic relations with China “very close into Beijing’s orbit, intrinsically tying the whole of our economies and societies to them”, he added.
…so China wants the power over the Pacific that America has had over NZ and Australia since the NSA gained access to all our mass surveillance powers?
Charming.
The difference of course is that America is an imperfect Democracy led by a Military Industrial Complex while China is a ruthless Authoritarian Communist state currently carrying out a cultural genocide on the Tibetan People, the people of Hong Kong and the Uyghurs…
The Xinjiang Police Files: Thousands of photos emerge from China’s secretive Uyghur detention camps
Thousands of leaked police photos have emerged from China’s Xinjiang province, shedding light on the secretive detention camps where more than one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are believed to be detained.
…China is our Economic Overlord, Australia is our loud mouthed rude neighbour and America is our 5 Eyes Political Master, so to think we will be immune from such volatility between China, Australia and America is delusional.
To date NZ has managed to keep out of any direct confrontation with China because China bought the National Party and the National Party did everything in their decade of power to bend over backwards to China.
Key put all our cows in one Beijing paddock off the back of Helen’s free trade deal, and we’ve been trapped ever since.
China is not a benign force for good, we need to understand that.
It’s funny because of the identity politics dynamics and intersectionist values at play that China gets cuddles rather than denouncement in NZ – remember when Covid first broke out & the woke rampaged against anyone critical of China?
Why do you need a shoot to kill policy at a re-education camp?
Speak up China, the world is listening.
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The oldest class trap since WWI is workers and bourgeoisie of a junior country supporting “their” Imperialist power over another imperialist power or powers. Working class internationalism is what needs to be advanced.
Neither Washington nor Moscow nor Bejing is the best position–but NZ is still emeshed in 5 Eyes and the Anglosphere. If we survive long enough hopefully the new gens will get organised politically and push Aotearoa NZ into a true independent foreign policy and join the non aligned movement of nations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement
You want to live in a non-aligned country Tiger Mountain then emigrate.
The non aligned nations do not build the global environment they are just passengers.
We need to decouple ourselves from China as quickly as possible and reintegrate ourselves with our traditional allies especially Aussie . . yes the US in particular is less than perfect but at the end of the day the US is realistically never going to pose a direct threat to NZ whereas China is quite a different.
While apparently just ‘schoolboys’ these clowns dressed as PLA soldiers and literally goosestepping up Queen Street speaks volumes and the shitloads of Chinese that have arrived in NZ under particularly the last National govt pose a very real security risk to legitimate NZ’ers including those Chinese here who have arrived from places such as Hong Kong and who don’t kowtow by default to Beijing (many of whom are pretty much just PLA ‘sleeper agents’ or very close to it re ex-National MP Jian Yang etc).
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/117141919/chinese-soldiers-at-auckland-protest-are-international-students
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jian_Yang_(politician)
I like the image. I think they will probably put on a better marching display etc. Seeing display is all that people seem to care about, style is so important and the ability to make money is what we admire, China fills the bill. What bill is that – I wouldn’t know.
James Brown you are a pleasure to read. So much from the encouraging soothing words from the past, I will record your words and play them before I go to sleep to lull me into unconsciousness.
Trump was only a couple of years ago and you claim that the US is never going to be a direct threat to us? As Martyn has often stated climate change is only going to get worse, the nutcase religious right will claim it is God’s judgments and forced worship will follow. They have the constitution to prevent that but recent supreme Court activities there would suggest that it’s interpretation can be changed.
Difference being Bonnie, that Trump could be voted out. Agree though that the god bothers in the US are just the Taliban without the beards (ok some have facial hair but you get my drift)
Trump wouldn’t have invaded NZ. How was he a threat to us? Large portions of the American Right are against all foreign intervention
China is miles ahead of the USA and Europe in realizing what is important in global terms. And it’s not oil anymore. Minerals and food. We have ignored the Pacific people. Used them for cheap labour when we needed it. Now for a bit of pocket money China will get control of millions of sq. kms of fisheries.
The other thing China is good at is making stuff. Reasonable quality cheap stuff. That is all that people want in life. We fill the emptiness of our existence with shit, any shit will do so long as it’s cheap.
As to trading with China especially dairy products. Fonterra doesn’t want to. They would rather sell to even more affluent nations Japan the USA Europe. But these countries, our so called friends and allies, apply quotas and tariffs on our dairy products. Even now in the middle of a desperate baby formula shortage the USA bans our product. They will let their children go hungry to protect their dairy industry from competition.
So China will win the long game I think. But I also think that as some guy once said “-the fruits of victory will be ashes in our mouths”
Well put. Knee jerk supporters of US Imperialism in NZ need to look in the mirror as to why the Pacific Nations are not too keen on Aussie in particular and our country as well–the NZ PM issued apologies to Samoa remember–that is not done without good reason.
Mike Moore’s “Rumble” podcast looked at the infant food shortage this week and yet again degraded Michigan piping and water supply has caused severe health concerns–Flint is another one.
https://abc7chicago.com/baby-formula-recall-abbott-nutrition-whistleblower/11804420/
That quote was JFK.
Yes China wants to control the fishing resources of the Pacific (and the minerals of the South China Sea off local ASEAN nations). And because of a certain continental shelf that relates to us.
As for our own resources (dairy and timber), the world market is growing and our dependence on China will diminish.
Oh, the woke!
The poor imperialised long-suffering peasants have a case of Stockholm syndrome.
Whereas they should be thinking more like, ‘New Boss, is just like the Old Boss’.
NZ too was built with a few Chinese slaves who were enticed here for work and a better life a hundred years (or more) ago.
Or is this just good ole xenophobia again rearing its ugly head on tdb?
It seems to happen a lot lately.
New Zealand was built by a few Chinese slaves – yeah na.
Can you be xenophobic about a fascist CCP party?
I see this as a sign of desperation from China.
They really don’t have the military clout to do much of anything in the region. Meanwhile back home half the population of the coastal region is locked up in their apartments because their vaccine doesn’t work. They can’t feed themselves, half the country suffers a drinking water shortage, they are facing demographic collapse and their economy is a sham.
We’ve already seen ‘peak China’ and all the rest is downhill.
Trump reset China relations and this has quietly been maintained under Biden. The USA and Europe can bring China to heel with just a whisper of import tariffs. All their neighbours hate them and they have no allies.
how many countries has the US subverted, couped or invaded since ww2…? if we step out of line with the yanks(rent an old copy of ‘sleeping dogs’ for the scenario) we’re fucked just as surely as by chinese ships in wellie harbour…the US allies are scared not loyal..
what have the chinese done to us? other than buying our products…wow that’s aggression for you.
Bit simplistic gagarin – China could take over our communication techno systems and set up okay face recognition and that points system they use and then take fines out the citizens’ bank account. It is probably only because the western allies don’t approve uet of such direct methods that our gummint isn’t doing it; perhaps that is one advantage to belong to the western bunch?
not as simplistic as fu manchu/yellow peril.
Mahuta refuses to tour the Pacific islands or even speak about it.
Despite the hype She’s a worse foreign minister than even Brownlee.
And as an local govt minister she’s nothing but a head ache.
Mahuta should be shuffled out of cabinet and given some ambassador role to get her out of parliament after 27 years.
Shes a disgrace. She’s had circles run around her. Has had no contact with Russian ambassador or Ukraine.
China keeps springing shit and she keeps refusing to comment.
Meanwhile Australias new foreign affairs minister is on a tour of the Pacific. Thank God someone is cos Mahuta ain’t cutting it.
Agree, when Brownlee is scoring points off you, you are a shit show of a minister.
Too busy destroying universal suffrage in New Zealand pushing co governance with members of her family riding the gravy train to nepotism station, far too busy to be working in the national interest.
The PM talks to the Ukraine leader. No one in her ministry would think that playing diplomatic games – her talking to local ambassadors – is relevant in time of war.
Realists also understand the way China reacts to any questioning of their internal or external behaviour. With such nations, it’s not words that count. Yet ones words can result in them seeking to demonstrate a capacity and or will to threaten – thus with them diplomacy needs to be more silent.
In the matter of Solomon Islands, their leader is asserting his right (as their right) to determine an independent course from a western hegemony in the region (as to keeping the Chinese out). The Chinese have been out-competing Taiwan in the area (as to recognition) for some time and now China is taking that to the next level – now against the western regime supporting Taiwan.
It’s not a matter of touring the islands, it’s about organising an international response to this brazen first chain plus development.
Your humming sounds waspish. Are you being a bit stingy or stingey with your critique?
China is fast coming to an end in it’s current form.
In 20 years it will be economically and geopolitically irrelevant, if not 10 years.
keep on whistling in the dark dark recesses of your brain jays…
one day they will decline that much is inevitable but RIGHT NOW they are on the ascendant whilst the ‘west’ is in decline….just get used to it…the voices might go away.
This is absurd. Americans have murdered millions of people in the past couple decades alone. China is no threat. Death to America.
Yeah because China, Syria, Russia, North Korea and any number of other regimes are better than America?
then tell me how the US is better…?
homeland security = kgb
surveillance = stasi would be jealous
poverty = self evident
justice = more per capita incarcerated than china
healthcare = a sad joke
I could go on and on and on but I’ll leave you with the US national sport of murdering schoolkids
Maybe, just maybe if the good ol USA stopped surrounding countries that are a “Threat” with 800 militry bases they wouldnt feel like the neighbour is pointing a shotgun at their heads over the fence.
John White, you are both dreaming and apparently prone to exaggeration
People in Tibet and Hong Kong may disagree with your statement . Russia and China are both ruled by dictators and can only be removed by a worst dictator where as in America a want to be dictator can be removed by a bumbling guy in his Eighties chosen by the people . It is not a great choice but I know who I would rather alien with
NZ turned its back on the West to feed its selfish greed using Chinas money. The West should disown NZ and leave it to China to own completely.
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