New Zealand PM flags Beijing’s ‘growing assertiveness’ in region, while ‘Pacific stuff-up’ haunts Australia’s governing Coalition going into election
“We’ve got to remember that even the local community in the Solomon Islands don’t have visibility on this issue and the parliament is split on the terms and conditions of the agreement, which they too have not seen,” Mahuta said.
China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner by a substantial margin and accounts for about a third of total exports, which has led to speculation Wellington is unable to take tough stances on Beijing. The Australian Labor party’s opposition foreign affairs spokesperson, Penny Wong, told the ABC: “Solomon Islands is a sovereign nation and of course they make their own decisions, but that does not absolve Mr Morrison and this government of their responsibility for what has happened on their watch.”
Australia’s Coalition minister for the Pacific, Zed Seselja, said Wong had “fundamentally misrepresented the situation and, in fact, completely misdiagnosed the response”. The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, hit back at suggestions the government was blindsided by the deal. He said he had “known for some time the risk of a deal such as this coming about” and that was why he chose Solomon Islands for his first international trip after the 2019 election.
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