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Speaker 1: Right now, Doctor Julia McDonald, Director of Research and Engagement.

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Speaker 1: This is Asian New Zealand Foundation. They've got a new

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Speaker 1: survey out this morning and it shows that our trust

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Speaker 1: in China is slipping. Forty percent of us see China

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Speaker 1: is a threat, and that is up from twenty eight

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Speaker 1: percent in November last year. We're not exactly loving America either,

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Speaker 1: by the way, I have hit print on something in

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Speaker 1: the studio and I don't know how to stop it,

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Speaker 1: and it's printing one word per page, So you're just

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Speaker 1: gonna have to put up with that for a little bit.

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Speaker 1: Sorry about that. Dr Julia McDonald is with the Asian

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Speaker 1: New Zealand Foundation and is with me this morning, Doctor Julia,

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Speaker 1: Good morning, Good morning. Sorry about the printing noise.

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Speaker 2: No, no, I can't even hear it.

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Speaker 1: Oh good Okay, shouldn't have mentioned it. Forty percent of

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Speaker 1: US see China as a threat. That's up from twenty

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Speaker 1: eight percent November last year. Is this because of the

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Speaker 1: live firing drills? What do you put it down to?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's exactly right. The events in the

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Speaker 2: world around us always impact our survey results. And at

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Speaker 2: the time the Mini Poll, which was the updated survey.

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Speaker 2: In March, there was the Li Fi military drills in

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Speaker 2: China had also just signed the comprehensive Strategic partnership with

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Speaker 2: the Cook Islands. And I think these events, combined with

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Speaker 2: the events that were taking place in the US and Washington,

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Speaker 2: DC at the time, really impacted New Zealand's New Zealander's perceptions.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, our perception not just of China but also the States.

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Speaker 1: What do we think about them?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? No, I mean that was the time where we

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Speaker 2: just had President Trump meeting with Zelenski in the Oval Office.

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Speaker 2: We had tariffs being put on Canada, Mexico, a lot

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Speaker 2: of unpredictability in the world, and so you see that

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Speaker 2: reflected in these spikes and stepp perceptions and the drop

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Speaker 2: in prem perceptions especially these are each China and the

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Speaker 2: United States.

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Speaker 1: Interesting though, that we see China not as a friend necessarily,

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Speaker 1: you know, more as we're more skeptical of them, of

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Speaker 1: course than we are of America. But we also understand

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Speaker 1: the importance of our economic relationship to the point where

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Speaker 1: we're basically willing to suck it up, an't we.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think we appreciate the importance of that economic relationship.

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Speaker 2: You're absolutely right. You know, a top of the list

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Speaker 2: of the most important countries for New Zealand's future is

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Speaker 2: China by quite a significant margin. It's been top for

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Speaker 2: many years now, and it is because we have such

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Speaker 2: an important relationship with China. We understand the need to

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Speaker 2: continue to engage China and it's just vital to our

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Speaker 2: national interest to do so.

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Speaker 1: I really appreciate your time this morning, Julia, thanks for

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Speaker 1: coming on the program. That's doctor Julian McDonald from Asia

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Speaker 1: New Zealand Foundation.

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Speaker 2: For more from Earli Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live

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Speaker 2: to news talks.

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Speaker 1: It'd be from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast

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