Tiananmen reality check

The events of April-June 1989—the pro-democracy movement that culminated in the violent crackdown of June 4, 1989—had a significant impact on popular and official impressions of the relationship between New Zealand and China. New Zealand joined with other Western governments in making strong statements criticising the CCP government’s actions.





In Auckland and Wellington thousands of New Zealanders took part in protest marches against the June 4 violence. Commentators criticised the New Zealand government for being blinded by the “special relationship” rhetoric and not looking more critically at problems and differences between the two countries. In August 1989 a discussion paper on New Zealand-PRC relations concluded, “The violent reaction from outside comes from the fact that the last ten years created an image of a good China. Then suddenly it turned bad. If we are honest, wishful thinking about China let us down.”

The events of 1989 restored New Zealand-PRC official relations to a more pragmatic basis than had been the case during the “China fever” of the 1980s. The change of government to the National Party (1990-1999) was a factor in this more pragmatic approach. Around the same time, the ROC began to adopt a more realistic foreign policy and was willing to establish “substantive relations” short of diplomatic recognition, with nations who recognised the PRC. In 1990 New Zealand set up a representative office in Taipei with personnel seconded from the New Zealand foreign ministry and the ROC set up a Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Wellington.

The end of the Cold War in Eastern Europe led to a dramatic shift in Western perceptions of China. In the years after 1989 the PRC was treated as an international pariah, no longer seen as a quasi-ally of the West, and, after the Soviet coup of 1991, no longer needed as a quasi-ally of the West. The general assumption among New Zealand’s closest allies was that the CCP government was doomed to fall. A 1992 report from the New Zealand Beijing embassy speculated that “the chances of weak politicians such as Jiang Zemin and Li Peng remaining in power for long in the post-Deng succession struggle period must be very small.” A report from New Zealand’s Washington embassy concluded that “Deng is betting against history.”

Yet in public, the New Zealand government adopted a positive attitude towards the PRC and made a point of distinguishing itself from the US and Australia who were more openly critical. As in the 1970s, diplomats stressed that “we cannot get to first base economically if we do not get the political relationship right.” New Zealand-PRC trade gradually grew, and educational and other ties continued to expand. But the ROC continued to be more important to New Zealand in trade and investment terms and as a source of tourists and migrants. In 1995 Taiwan was New Zealand’s sixth most important trading partner, while the PRC came seventh.

Breaking with tradition

New Zealand-PRC relations have always been influenced by the state of US-PRC relations. In 1995, US-PRC relations were at an all-time low. The US Congress had facilitated ROC President Lee Teng-hui’s visit to the US, and the PRC made strong objections. New Zealand-PRC relations became noticeably warmer from this period on. New Zealand took a critical view of US policies towards the PRC and sought then, and subsequently, to clearly distance itself from these policies in the eyes of the CCP government. In the Cold War years, New Zealand’s relationship with the PRC had been set by the US, but by the 1990s some New Zealand diplomats wanted to break with that restriction. A 1995 report asserted, “US policy towards China lacks consistency. To a large extent, it is being driven by domestic political imperatives. New Zealand does not face the same constraints, and will not necessarily find it an advantage to pursue its interests in China in close association with the US.” New Zealand diplomats argued that China was very important to New Zealand and in the future, would likely become more important to New Zealand than the US and the UK.

From the mid-1990s the PRC became a major source of new migrants to New Zealand. From late 1997 large numbers of Chinese students began coming to study in New Zealand on short-term visas. In the same year, New Zealand was the first Western country to sign off on the bilateral paperwork that led to China being accepted into the WTO. In 1999, China’s National Tourism Administration made New Zealand an approved tourism destination for Chinese tour groups.

With the election of the Clark Labour government (1999-2008), New Zealand found common ground with the PRC on opposition to the US invasion of Iraq. But in 2003, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark revealed apprehension about the PRC’s rise when she stated that she opposed the Iraq war because it set a precedent of large powers ignoring the United Nations and international law. She said: “This is a century which is going to see China emerge as the largest economy, and usually with economic power comes military clout. In the world we are constructing, we want to know [that the system] will work whoever is the biggest and the most powerful.” From the perspective of a small nation such as New Zealand, a strong international system and respect for international law are the best means to secure regional security and global peace.

New Zealand’s trade, education, and tourism links with China expanded dramatically under the Clark government. In 2003 New Zealand signed a Comprehensive Cooperative Relationship Agreement with the PRC. In the same year, New Zealand and the PRC updated their Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement. In 2004, New Zealand and China began negotiations to develop a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Prime Minister Clark told People’s Daily New Zealand was “the first developed country to conclude a bilateral market access agreement with China for its entry to the World Trade Organization; the first to recognize China's status as a market economy and the first country to enter FTA negotiations with China”. Ms Clark said New Zealand was hoping to conclude a fourth first, to be the first developed country to conclude an FTA agreement with China.

Also in 2004, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade released an update on New Zealand’s most important diplomatic relationships. Six countries or territories were designated as “bedrock” relationships for New Zealand, meaning that they were the most important. The first five were unremarkable: Australia, the US, Japan, the European Union, and the South Pacific Forum countries; but adding China to the list was a significant change.



The growing importance of the PRC internationally and the strength of the China market meant that it was now more essential than ever before that New Zealand maintained a positive and dynamic relationship with that country. It did not imply a turning away from New Zealand’s traditional allies, but it did suggest that New Zealand’s politicians and diplomats believed that the global system followed a very different order from that of the Cold War years. In April 2008, Prime Minister Clark and CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao signed the New Zealand-China FTA. It was China’s first with any Western nation.