WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Chinese ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong said that if New Zealand were to join security grouping AUKUS it would “inevitably” have negative consequences for the country’s relationship with China.
In a wide-ranging interview with state-owned Radio New Zealand released on Wednesday, Wang said that when deciding whether to join the grouping, China hoped that New Zealand would “take into account its own long-term best interests, the potential implications for regional security, and the impact on the relationship between China and New Zealand.”
New Zealand has previously said it is “information-gathering” on future cooperation with the AUKUS grouping but has made no commitments.
A joint statement from Australia, Britain and the U.S. in September said they were consulting with New Zealand, Canada and the Republic of Korea to identify possibilities for collaboration on advanced capabilities under AUKUS Pillar II.
AUKUS is a two-stage defence pact formed in 2021 by the U.S., Britain and Australia as part of efforts to push back against China’s growing influence in the Asia Pacific region.
The first stage, or “pillar”, of AUKUS is designed to deliver nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, while a second pillar is focused on delivering advanced capabilities and sharing technologies across a range of areas.
Wang told RadioNZ that AUKUS was the product of a “zero-sum Cold War mentality” and that the pact would “lead almost inevitably to greater divisiveness, confrontation, or even conflict and war.”
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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