Written By: - Date published: 11:21 am, January 8th, 2020 - 44 comments
It has been revealed that Simon Bridges’trip to China last year was organised by National MP and former teacher of English to Chinese spies Jian Yang and that an offer of assistance from MFAT was declined.
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, November 4th, 2019 - 15 comments
Good news for Dunedin and the Country as the Government has announced a $20 million upgrade of the Hillside Rail Workshop.
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, October 29th, 2019 - 10 comments
It is pretty hard to miss a variety of cities around the world going nuts for apparently minor offences.
Written By: - Date published: 4:17 pm, October 1st, 2019 - 91 comments
October 1st is the National Day of the People’s Republic of China. They like to make it a big day, bigger than the United States’ July 4th. It’s called Golden Week because they all really holiday and reconnect across the country. They shop like lock forwards pack down. It’s massive. As the 70th event, it […]
Written By: - Date published: 2:09 am, September 19th, 2019 - 21 comments
France President Macron’s remarkable and wide-ranging speech to French ambassadors after France hosted the recent G7 conference in Biarritz is well worth a read. He lays it all out – so much better than Trump’s tweets or BoJo’s bluster.
Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, September 18th, 2019 - 4 comments
At the United Nations Climate Action Summit next weekend the question may be asked what would happen if China stopped buying Australian coal?
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, September 5th, 2019 - 39 comments
As Brexit fades our British parent country into a globally forgettable social embarrassment, we should remind ourselves that the only international politics of any impact on us is within Asia. There, as elsewhere, structured relationships are starting to crumble and impact upon us. This is because Asia in the past decade has undergone remarkable transformation […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, August 27th, 2019 - 46 comments
Jami Lee Ross has released details showing National avoided restrictions against overseas donations by a New Zealand incorporated company being used to make the donation.
Written By: - Date published: 12:52 pm, August 26th, 2019 - 42 comments
Those who see fascism emerging under Trump can observe the full modern version in action now in Hong Kong’s contest of protesters with the Chinese government.
Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, August 8th, 2019 - 30 comments
The Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty between the United State and Russia signed by Reagan and Gorbachev in 1987 formally ended on August 2nd. On Sunday the new US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper dined privately with Winston Peters. Before and during his trip to the Pacific, Mark Esper called for placement of intermediate-range US missiles in Asia.
Written By: - Date published: 2:57 am, July 21st, 2019 - 25 comments
Hamish Rutherfurd writes that Winston Peters’ trip to the US to secure a trade deal is far-fetched and a waste of time. I agree. But if Peters has his agenda, so will Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence, John Bolton and Dan Coats have theirs. He was scheduled to meet them all. No wonder the 9th floor are worried.
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, July 2nd, 2019 - 62 comments
Six weeks after banning China’s leading tech firm Huawei from contracts with U.S. businesses, U.S. President Donald Trump appears to have reversed it after meeting China’s Premier Xi Jinping.
Written By: - Date published: 8:22 am, June 16th, 2019 - 20 comments
Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, has permanently suspended the legislative proposal to enable extradition of Hong Kong people to among other places mainland China.
Written By: - Date published: 3:56 am, June 12th, 2019 - 94 comments
Andrew Little’s letter to the Select Committee on election interference puzzled me – it seemed to be out of the blue and not particularly relevant to our system. Then I read about a meeting on the Gold Coast last year and it became clear as to why – FiveEyes pressure.
Written By: - Date published: 9:48 pm, June 7th, 2019 - 11 comments
Australian Federal Police chief Neil Gaughan told media after raiding the ABC that “if police did not investigate the leaking of classified information, Australia would no longer be entrusted by FiveEyes partners with intelligence that saves lives.” FiveEyes didn’t save Muslim lives in Christchurch.
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, June 4th, 2019 - 70 comments
Right now we could be dealing with a China with a similar mixed model to Vietnam, or a re-unified country like Germany. What happened to change this?
Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, June 3rd, 2019 - 49 comments
With the United States – China trade war well underway, the sick chaos of Brexit is shrinking the U.K. economy and slowing much of Europe’s economy, and smaller economies such as that of Mexico in the crosshairs through further politically manufactured trade disputes, the second half of this year looks for New Zealand nowhere near as rosy as the first half.
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 pm, May 12th, 2019 - 29 comments
Mike Pompeo has just been in Britain trying to bully the UK government out of using Huawei for its 5G network. He and other officials have been heavying countries around the world. Its not working, but one thing is clear. It makes GCSB’s head Andrew Hampton’s assertion that its decision to reject Huawei was independent is simply not believable.
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, May 12th, 2019 - 91 comments
Donald Trump’s trade war with China is way, way bad for New Zealand.
Written By: - Date published: 3:03 pm, May 10th, 2019 - 54 comments
Anne-Marie Brady submitted to yesterday’s Select Committee Inquiry into foreign interference in our elections, making copious reference to her “Magic Weapons” paper of 2017. She didn’t mention another paper which casts a much different light on her independence and purpose
Written By: - Date published: 8:32 pm, March 29th, 2019 - 73 comments
Jacinda Ardern will get a very warm welcome in Beijing based on immense respect for her and for New Zealand. Xi Jin-Ping has just returned from a very successful visit to Europe, joining Italy to the Belt and Road initiative and buying 300 jets from Airbus. Pepe Escobar outlines the implications for Eurasia. Much food for thought.
Written By: - Date published: 4:00 pm, March 13th, 2019 - 24 comments
Here’s another one for the select committee reviewing foreign interference. Visitor from Britain Charlie Parton of the Royal United Services Institute was on Morning Report this morning telling us to avoid Huawei because they are Chinese and different from us. At least he does us a favour by making it clear the matter is political not technical.
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 pm, March 11th, 2019 - 116 comments
I’m glad Anne-Marie Brady will get the chance to present her “Magic Weapons” paper to the select committee examining the last election. At long last it might get given some proper critical examination, of its content as well as it provenance. In my opinion it reads like a long list of the blindingly obvious, mixed with a large dose of conspiracy theory. It certainly doesn’t show much sign of the sort of critical thinking one might expect from an academic.
Written By: - Date published: 1:41 pm, March 4th, 2019 - 54 comments
In the new world order of robber barons in which most states are collectively so weak that they no longer effective resistance against large corporations, we should start to view states as diplomatic fronts for corporations.
Written By: - Date published: 12:58 pm, February 18th, 2019 - 52 comments
Claims that New Zealand is at a crisis point in terms of its relationship with China appear to be somewhat overegged.
Written By: - Date published: 1:47 pm, February 13th, 2019 - 66 comments
Spark wants Huawei’s 5G technology because its the best and the cheapest. The GCSB spooks don’t want us to have it because 5Eyes and because the US has yanked their chain. The Prime Minister says no decision has been made – the media and the world think it is a goneburger. We should support New Zealand’s Spark, not US corporate interests.
Written By: - Date published: 7:55 am, February 8th, 2019 - 58 comments
Donald Trump has announced that the US will be withdrawing from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and Russia has also given notice. Stand by as the nuclear arms race restarts.
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, January 18th, 2019 - 103 comments
What if Brexit is not a threat to democracy as a system of government or a threat to liberal values? And what if it is an example of British democracy’s best modern exemplars to the world of institutionalised democracy and the rule of all under the law since universal franchise was first granted?
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, January 15th, 2019 - 70 comments
Stuff has reported that its opponent, the New Zealand Herald, has via its Chinese version amended stories to make them more acceptable to the Chinese Government.
Written By: - Date published: 9:38 pm, January 14th, 2019 - 120 comments
Winston Peters went to Washington last December to see US VP Mike Pence and invited the US to engage more in the South-West Pacific without informing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Patrick Smellie described this apparent oversight as “deeply worrying.” Even more worrying is what Peters said when he was there.
Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, January 9th, 2019 - 17 comments
An analysis of recent public comments made by Elizabeth Warren and the possible implications for New Zealand of a Warren Presidency.
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