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The Diplomat (8 February 2021)

Joshua Mcdonald

Officials in Canberra were left stunned recently after a senior New Zealand minister advised Australia to “show respect” and act more diplomatically toward China, following months of increasing tension between Canberra and Beijing and an agreement to upgrade the Free Trade Agreement between Wellington and Beijing.

In an interview with CNBC, New Zealand’s trade minister, Damian O’Connor, said “I can’t speak for Australia and the way it runs its diplomatic relationships but clearly if they were to follow us, show respect, and speak with a little more diplomacy from time to time and be conscious with wording, than they too could be in a similar situation.”

Australia's trade minister, Dan Tehan, said the following day that Australia's relationship with China was "based on an assessment of our national interests" and that his government's approach to trade policy with China would be guided by "proactivity, principle and patiance."

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