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Speaker 1: Our relationship with China is going to get another close

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Speaker 1: inspection this week with the arrival of the Chinese premier,

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Speaker 1: first official visit since twenty seventeen. Jeffrey Miller, international Relations expert,

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Speaker 1: back with this, Jeffrey, very good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Mane.

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Speaker 1: He's also sweeping through Australia. So this is a region

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Speaker 1: in the spotlight as far as the Chinese are concerned.

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Speaker 2: Indeed, and it's massive, as you said, the first visit

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Speaker 2: by a Chinese premier to New Zealand since twenty seventeen,

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Speaker 2: that's a very long time and it follows Wang Yi's

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Speaker 2: visit back in March the Chinese Foreign Minister. So certainly

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Speaker 2: Australia is now being courted again by China after all

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Speaker 2: their troubles. But New Zealand is getting in first. He's

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Speaker 2: coming to New Zealand first, Lee Chang, and.

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Speaker 1: He's bringing a least to the Australian leag The journey

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Speaker 1: was a large business delegation. Is it about business or

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Speaker 1: is it about the geopolitics and things like August?

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Speaker 2: Well, outwardly it's about business. And in the Chinese political system,

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Speaker 2: the Premiere is largely responsible for handling the economy. But

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Speaker 2: I think behind the scenes there's going to be a

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Speaker 2: lot of talk about AUCUST. That certainly wasn't mentioned in

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Speaker 2: Christopher Luxeen's statement yesterday, But it's very clear that China

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Speaker 2: is not happy with the idea of New Zealand joining UCUS,

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Speaker 2: and it's got a chance to put its case to

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Speaker 2: New Zealand because no decisions, final decisions have been made here.

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Speaker 2: So I think the behind closed doors will be a

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Speaker 2: lot of talk about August.

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Speaker 1: And can they justifiably New Zealand that is, say that

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Speaker 1: we don't know what it is Pillar two and therefore

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Speaker 1: we don't know what we're going to do, and that's

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Speaker 1: a decent enough answer for the Chinese or not.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I mean that's been the line that New Zealand

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Speaker 2: has been using what for the past year or more,

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Speaker 2: And I guess this still carries some way because New

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Speaker 2: Zealand settle hasn't been officially invited to join. At the

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Speaker 2: same time, I think China's smart enough to know that

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Speaker 2: there are discussions ongoing between New Zealand and the other

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Speaker 2: AUCUST members at some level, and they're very keen to

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Speaker 2: point out all the good reasons why New Zealand should

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Speaker 2: not join, and trying to point out just how important

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Speaker 2: this relationship with China has. Remember it is New Zealand's

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Speaker 2: biggest training partner by far. There's a lot on the line,

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Speaker 2: and they might often New Zealand some further carrots, you know,

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Speaker 2: this talk of upgrading the free trade agreement a little

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Speaker 2: bit further to include services to a greater degree than

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Speaker 2: is currently the case. Visa access could also be on

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Speaker 2: the table. China offers visa free access to around a

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Speaker 2: dozen countries, does not include New Zealand yet, but perhaps

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Speaker 2: New Zealand could be brought into the fold. There will

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Speaker 2: be the first five bys country if that happened.

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Speaker 1: All those issues that the Americans of the Europeans worry

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Speaker 1: about EV's and government intervention in the marketplace and tariffs

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Speaker 1: and stuff like that, do we ignore all of that?

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Speaker 2: I don't think we ignore all of that. I think

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Speaker 2: if you look at last week, Tom McLay was off

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Speaker 2: signing agreements for the Indo Pacific Economic Framework, which is

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Speaker 2: very much the US economic vehicle for counter China. So

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Speaker 2: I think it ef factors into the discussions, and I

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Speaker 2: don't think China is probably that happy that New Zealand's

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Speaker 2: signed up to the IPEF as it's called. You know,

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Speaker 2: I think all of these issues will be on the

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Speaker 2: table when Lee Chang, the Chinese premier, is here this week.

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Speaker 1: Okay, the CPTPP, the Chinese want in. Allegedly we're able

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Speaker 1: to in some way, shape or form if we wanted

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Speaker 1: to help. Is any of that true? And can China

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Speaker 1: get into a deal like that?

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Speaker 2: Well, New Zealand formally is I guess the depository for

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Speaker 2: the CPTPP because we started the whole arrangement way back when.

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Speaker 2: And you know, I think New Zealand's position formally is

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Speaker 2: you know, China meets all the tests. You know, there's

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Speaker 2: no reason why it couldn't be brought into the CPS

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Speaker 2: Thank you.

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Speaker 1: Still if it meets its look.

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Speaker 2: It's a long shot, isn't it Because of the other

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Speaker 2: CPTPP members here, and you know, trade has become increasingly politicized,

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Speaker 2: and you know, it's it seems unlikely that China would

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Speaker 2: ever be allowed into this group.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Jeffrey, good to catch up with you. As always,

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Speaker 1: appreciate your expertise. Jeffrey Miller, international relations expert.

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