The way in which New Zealand under Jacinda Arndern is kowtowing to China and in the process putting the traditional allies in a compromising situation is not going down well with Australia. Recently, when New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta criticised attempts to exert pressure on China through the 70-year-old spy alliance known as the “Five Eyes,” Australian officials were taken aback. While earlier too the officials from New Zealand have made comments that were intended to pinch Australia just to appease China, things are becoming clearer by the day and going ahead, Australia will not take things lightly.
“We would much rather prefer to look for multilateral opportunities to express our interests on a number of issues,” Mahuta said on Monday. The terminology is carefully veiled, but it has real ramifications. New Zealand did not notify Australia of its status until this week when Mahuta expressed her government’s dissatisfaction with the Five Eyes’ “expanding remit.” Though Wellington’s conspicuous absence from a few joint statements had caused concern in Canberra in the previous year, Australian officials were unaware of New Zealand’s official opposition to using the spy network to put diplomatic pressure on Beijing.
Jacinda’s pro-China policies came up for discussion in the UK Parliament during a historic debate. The British Parliament unanimously declared that China was carrying out genocide and committing crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. This was the first time that the UK Parliament passed a genocide motion without any dissent. But the British lawmakers were rather concerned about the New Zealand government’s recent remarks about the Five Eyes Alliance. Wellington had recently criticised attempts to put pressure on China through the powerful spy network comprising the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. This goes on to show that other member countries of the Five Eyes group are getting the wind of the compromised situation of New Zealand.
Read more: UK rips into Jacinda Ardern and dubs her a leader who ‘sucks up to China’
New Zealand has previously expressed its preference for Beijing on several occasions. In January, as the Foreign Ministers of Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada issued a joint statement expressing “serious concerns” about the detention of 55 Democracy activists and supporters in Hong Kong, New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern remained silent. The Five Eyes are expected to lead the war against China, the Communist-authoritarian giant. However, the way Canada and New Zealand have been behaving and consistently jeopardising the organisation’s ability to contain China must be taken seriously.
However, Australia is no longer willing to keep looking on the side-lines as New Zealand destabilises the organisation and compromises the long-held western intelligence network. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal Prime Minister Scott Morrison will visit New Zealand in two weeks to meet with his counterpart Jacinda Ardern. The future of Five Eyes will be a hot topic of discussion. The issue will be discussed at senior levels before then, with Foreign Minister Marise Payne and International Development Minister Zed Seselja flying to New Zealand on Wednesday to meet their counterparts.
While no one in the Australian government is seriously suggesting New Zealand is at risk of being booted out of the intelligence-sharing network, the concerns are already growing and going ahead this can become a reality. In Canberra, references to the “Four Eyes” have only increased in recent months and they may be memes but can fast turn into reality.
