WELLINGTON: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday that a long-awaited go back and forth to China will take place subsequent week, but were shortened within the wake of the Christchurch mosque killings.
Ardern said she would go back and forth to Beijing on Sunday then dangle a complete day of conferences Monday with the leaders of New Zealand's greatest buying and selling partner, including President Xi Jinping, before returning home the following day.
She said she didn't need to spend too long away from New Zealand as it continues to mourn the March 15 shootings at two Christchurch mosques that claimed 50 lives.
"It was originally intended to be a longer visit, including a business delegation, but under the circumstances that did not seem appropriate to be away for longer," she told newshounds.
It can be Ardern's first visit to China since she used to be elected in overdue 2017 -- an unusually long wait for the chief of a nation that signed a pioneering free-trade care for Beijing in 2008.
There have been fears that Beijing had postponed the go back and forth amid strained members of the family after New Zealand's intelligence company last November halted plans for Chinese-owned Huawei to take part in a proposed 5G community, mentioning "significant security risks".
Ardern has time and again performed down the Huawei spat and did indirectly address it on Monday.
"This is an important visit, New Zealand places a high priority on our relationship with China," she said.
"I look forward to our ongoing engagement."
She said discussion pieces would come with upgrading the bilateral loose trade deal and combatting local weather change.
Ardern said she would go back and forth to Beijing on Sunday then dangle a complete day of conferences Monday with the leaders of New Zealand's greatest buying and selling partner, including President Xi Jinping, before returning home the following day.
She said she didn't need to spend too long away from New Zealand as it continues to mourn the March 15 shootings at two Christchurch mosques that claimed 50 lives.
"It was originally intended to be a longer visit, including a business delegation, but under the circumstances that did not seem appropriate to be away for longer," she told newshounds.
It can be Ardern's first visit to China since she used to be elected in overdue 2017 -- an unusually long wait for the chief of a nation that signed a pioneering free-trade care for Beijing in 2008.
There have been fears that Beijing had postponed the go back and forth amid strained members of the family after New Zealand's intelligence company last November halted plans for Chinese-owned Huawei to take part in a proposed 5G community, mentioning "significant security risks".
Ardern has time and again performed down the Huawei spat and did indirectly address it on Monday.
"This is an important visit, New Zealand places a high priority on our relationship with China," she said.
"I look forward to our ongoing engagement."
She said discussion pieces would come with upgrading the bilateral loose trade deal and combatting local weather change.
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern to make curtailed China trip
![New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern to make curtailed China trip]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
March 25, 2019
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