What’s Chinese for ‘Yes, sir’?

Green Party Co-leader, Rod Donald says that Labour’s back down on inviting a senior Taiwanese minister to New Zealand exposes its fawning foreign policy towards China.

“Peter Dunne isn’t often right but he’s hit the nail on the head: the New Zealand Government’s decision to snub Taiwan is driven solely by its fear of upsetting China’s autocratic rulers and derailing free trade talks.

“It’s bad enough that New Zealand is the first western country to recognise China as a market economy when it clearly isn’t, because it dumps products on the world market at less than the cost of production.

“It’s bad enough that the Labour Government is negotiating a free trade agreement with a country that refuses to ratify core International Labour Organisation conventions, including the elimination of forced labour and export goods made by ‘slave’ and prison labour.

“It’s bad enough that our Government chooses to ignore China’s ongoing persecution of the people of occupied Tibet and its violent suppression of the democratic and religious freedom of its own people.

“But to allow China to dictate New Zealand’s foreign policy by letting it control who can visit our country is a complete surrender of our sovereignty,” said Rod Donald.

“The New Zealand Government’s sycophantic compliance with China’s foreign policy agenda highlights the price we are paying for Labour’s single-minded pursuit of free trade. A civilised nation should never sacrifice its fundamental commitment to human rights in order to keep its shelves stocked with cheap shirts.”

Rod Donald will be speaking at the protest rally outside today’s ‘Gateway to China’ trade summit in Auckland, which is billing the ‘imminent free trade agreement with China’ as ‘the biggest profit opportunity this century’.

Time: 5pm Wednesday 1st September.
Place: Hyatt Hotel, Princes Street, Auckland.

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