26 May 2000

AN AWFUL IRONY BORDERING ON HYPOCRISY

United New Zealand leader, Hon Peter Dunne, says there is an awful irony bordering on hypocrisy in the New Zealand Government's attitude to the current crisis in Fiji.

"New Zealand is properly arguing that the price of its continued recognition of the Government of the Republic of Fiji is Fiji's adherence to constitutional and democratic government."

"Yet, at the same time, New Zealand continues to adopt precisely the opposite attitude with regard to the Republic of China on Taiwan."

"Here is a country with a democratically and elected and constitutionally proper Government in place, which New Zealand refuses to recognise, preferring instead to recognise the undemocratic regime of the People's Republic of China that took power at the point of a gun in 1949."

"If it is good enough for our relations with Fiji to be predicated on constitutional and democratic government, then it is equally good enough to apply the same yardstick to relations with China and Taiwan."

"But I doubt any New Zealand Government has the moral courage to dare express such a view to China because it is big and powerful, which leaves an awful taste of hypocrisy over this Government's current attitude to Fiji, which is neither big nor powerful," Mr Dunne says.

ENDS

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