GUEST BLOG: Gerard Otto – The Emperor’s New Clothes

New Zealand’s exports of all goods and services to China were worth $16.6 billion for the year ended September 2018.

A year before then this was only $14.0 Billion.

Check that out – in one year of working with Winston Peters, Jacinda Ardern, David Parker and others – New Zealand exports to China have grown by a massive $2.6 Billion.

Shit yes.

That is a phenomenal amount of growth in our exports under the Coalition Government.

That extra $2.6 Billion in export growth to China has ALSO occurred during the Pacific Reset – which was announced in early March 2018.

Which can only mean it does not fucking matter what speeches about “asymmetrical power in the South Pacific” are made by Winston.

None of that impacted our rapid growth in exports to China.

Instead they grew by $7,123,000 per day.

Wow that’s a great deal of growth but while it’s growing away like the clappers our media are writing headlines with these words in them :

“We have a big problem with China.”

The media are running around like chooks about a delegation who cancelled a visit to an event, a few rumours about tourists cancelling trips, speculation there might be an issue for exports, and a plane trip that was turned around due to an administrative error.

Yes apparently while we are experiencing record export growth with China and not one dollar of trade has been refused nor one kilo of milk powder stopped at any port – we have this huge problem all of a sudden.

So far the big problem involves media thinking we should have had a meeting by now.

Unless you have a meeting at the same times that John Key had his AND IN THE SAME LOCATION – well – there you are!!!

John Key said he took what the Chinese media had to say with a grain of salt after he endorsed the decision at the Hague to declare China’s rock hopping claims in the South China Sea to be illegal.

Yep – and at the time the media did not hop up and down claiming we had a big problem.

John went to China and our media relaxed.

Especially Barry Soper and other subject matter experts like Corin Dann ( LMAO ).

Funnily our exports to China dropped massively from $13.296 Billion in 2014 to only $11.125 Billion in 2015.

I’d say that was indicative of a relationship problem – despite meeting with the President in Beijing.

Hilariously this terrible drop was precisely at the same time when the same NZ media started to report we had a “rock star economy”!!!

Instead of wailing in unison that we had a problem with China while exports tumbled, the media and National supporters were triumphant.

Not so today.

Worried heads shake in fear.

The list of grave concerns is repeated at a surface level and passed along for instant comprehension and consumption.

Much is made of how Winston begged for US foreign aid in the South Pacific and pissed off China.

Yet none of the commentators can see that this is wholly appropriate at a time of American protectionism.

No not one of them, including professors at Victoria University.

There’s Trump pulling the plug on aid and funds for the likes of the UN and rattling sabres about better trade deals and the USA not paying so much – so of course New Zealand needs to make it’s case for a continuation of US aid and even more support from the USA in our region.

On top of this there’s been six coalition ministers visit China within the last year.

Yes six. Or was it five? Doesn’t matter.

That’s fairly active and busy.

David Parker met with his Chinese equivalent in November and had a right old chat about trade and that upgrade to our FTA.

November 2018 was not long ago really.

Last week China’s ambassador, Wu Xi, invited Winston to dinner where he and she talked about inside information.

Information that none of the media nor members of the New Zealand China Council are privy to. ( David Mahon, Fran O’Sullivan etc. )

But oh we have a BIG PROBLEM – apparently according to them.

As you know Air New Zealand admitted they made administrative errors but half the population are still out of the loop about that red herring.

Notably only after headlines claimed it was political and about our relationship with China.

PM Ardern has met both the President and the Premier of China since becoming PM but those meetings were not in Beijing.

Our media think it’s time the location of the meeting was stressed rather than actually having a meeting.

This is like the media in Fiji being pissed off until their PM has a meeting with ours in Wellington.

OMG I know!!!

Never mind the fact our PM visited their PM in Fiji or they met at trade talks.

Not enough hoopla.

That’s how our media are behaving towards China.

It’s a bit of reckless disregard for our exporters really – stirring up a hornet’s nest from perfectly booming trade.

The other fact is National would have done the same over 5G and Huawei.

The TICSA legislation that governs the GCSB in this area was after-all – passed by National.

Yes – so they can bugger off about their fake positioning about this.

If anything this week’s hype about our “big problems” with China is a study in who is politicised in our media.

I wonder who is paying some of these media hacks behind the scenes to dress up the narrative that our relationship with China is clad in problems?

Whoever that is – is keen to dethrone the New Zealand government and take control.

Desperate enough to harm our economy in the process!!

Now who fits that description?

Someone wearing blue.