Fears about China's plans in the Pacific and its failure to condemn the war in Ukraine appear to be filtering through to New Zealanders, with ever growing numbers seeing the country as a threat
New Zealanders are growing increasingly concerned about the threat presented by China, while viewing engagement with Asia as more important than ever, according to a new survey.
The latest Asia New Zealand Foundation’s ‘Perceptions of Asia’ survey, which has been conducted since 1997, found 29 percent of New Zealanders perceived China as being friendly in 2021 - a two-point drop from 2020 - while 37 percent viewed it as threatening.
Views of China plummeted further in a ‘minipoll’ conducted this month, with just 13 percent of Kiwis viewing Beijing as a friend and 58 percent seeing it as a threat.
That result came in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with China facing criticism from some quarters for not condemning the war, as well as Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s tour of the Pacific in a failed effort to sign a region-wide security deal.
Ten percent of New Zealanders trusted China to act responsibly in the world and 58 percent expressed a lack of trust, compared with 34 percent who trusted the United States and 31 percent who did not.
A total of 63 percent supported imposing travel and financial sanctions on Chinese officials associated with human rights abuses, with just 12 percent opposed.
Japan was considered the friendliest Asian country towards New Zealand - a position it’s held since 2017 - with Singapore close behind.
There was also a significant rebound in Kiwi views of the US following the election of Joe Biden, with 61 percent viewing the country as a friend (up 11 points from 2020).
A total of 79 percent of Kiwis felt it was important for New Zealand to develop political, social and economic ties with Asia, an increase of six points from 2020 and the highest level on record in the foundation’s surveys.
However, there was a drop in the proportion of New Zealanders who felt a strong connection to Asia in their daily lives, down from 26 percent in 2020 to 21 percent last year.
Asia New Zealand Foundation executive director Simon Draper said the results suggested a stronger integration of New Zealand into Asia instead of Kiwis seeing the region at a remove.
“Rather than New Zealand and then Asia, there's a greater sense of New Zealand with Asia …that hasn't been the case in the years coming up to this.”
Speaking about China, Draper said the survey’s findings had in the past been strongly influenced by the major issues in the news, and it remained to be seen whether declining perceptions of Beijing would remain that low by the end of the year.
"When you ask New Zealanders what is Asia, China comes up really predominantly, so if New Zealanders are feeling a bit apprehensive about China, we worry that sort of bleeds into wider Asia as well.”
It was noteworthy that despite concerns about China, the country was ranked by Kiwis as one of the most important for New Zealand to put additional effort into, he said.
“It's not a sort of a walking away, it's more about a doubling down on trying to understand it and more engagement. If you had an extra dollar, where would you put it in building relationships? Well, it goes to China.”
“It's a hugely diverse country of people, but also in New Zealand as well: if you just randomly plucked two ethnically Chinese people off the street, they probably are very, very different in terms of their lived experience and connection to China and political issues.” - Alice Wang, Asia New Zealand Foundation Leadership Network
Alice Wang, a Chinese New Zealander and member of the foundation’s leadership network, said she was aware of anecdotal concerns about how disapproval of the Chinese government’s actions could flow through to retaliation against the Chinese community.
“There is a slight sense of fear in terms of not wanting to stick out at work or generally in the community - not as significant as the United States when you hear about media reports there.”
Some people tended to conflate China as a government and a country with the Chinese diaspora, even though there were often large differences in opinion.
“It's a hugely diverse country of people, but also in New Zealand as well: if you just randomly plucked two ethnically Chinese people off the street, they probably are very, very different in terms of their lived experience and connection to China and political issues.”
Wang said it was not just closed borders which had impacted New Zealanders’ connections with Asia, but the cancellation of popular local events such as Diwali and the Lantern Festival due to the pandemic.
Jason Young, the director of the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington, said the survey findings showed New Zealand was experiencing the same challenges as many countries in their ties with China, but there was still strong support for making an effort to manage the relationship.
