an end to the saga?
Posted by wangbo in news, tilting at windmills on April 21, 2012
Could it be? Has the Shanghai Pengxin/Crafar Farms saga finally come to an end?
Netease has a report so balanced and fair it’s boring reporting the NZ government’s approval of the sale of the Crafar farms to Shanghai Pengxin. No mention of any kerfuffle or controversy. No mention of Michael Fay and his nonsense, nor of the blatantly sinophobic kneejerk of the Greens, nor the populist-spiced-with-xenophobia ranting of Labour or New Zealand First. Simply, the government approved the sale to Shanghai Pengxin and the conditions of the sale.
Then the NZ Herald has a piece by Claire Trevett with what seems to be a rather silly headline. Papers show Crafar pressure. Oh, really? Because it seems to me the only evidence of such pressure offered is:
Mr McCully also provided Mr Williamson with a NZ Trade and Enterprise paper from March which advised the Government China was watching the case with “great interest” and it was affecting Chinese perceptions of the attractiveness of investing in New Zealand.
It said the Chinese Minister of Commerce had raised that point with Trade Minister Tim Groser on a visit to China.
It urged ministers to use high-level engagements with the Chinese to emphasise that New Zealand was open to investment.
Um… so… pressure? Where? It is the job of the Chinese government to, among other things, ensure, so far as possible, that Chinese companies get a fair go overseas. China and New Zealand have a Free Trade Agreement under which both parties made certain promises to each other. It is only natural for China to keep an eye on Chinese investment in New Zealand and ensure that the terms of the FTA are being adhered to and that Chinese companies investing in New Zealand are treated fairly and equally according to New Zealand law and are not susceptible to the whims of politicians and activists. One would hope that Tim Groser made similar noises about the treatment of New Zealand investors in China when he was here – but we wouldn’t know, would we? Because it seems the only people who noticed his visit and that he had anything to say, let alone reported on it, were in the Chinese-language media, and they have different priorities from the NZ media. And the Chinese media have noticed the Shanghai Pengxin/Crafar Farms saga and the controversy it aroused, and they have also noticed that Groser was very welcoming and encouraging of Chinese investment in New Zealand.
I suppose one could counter that foreign investors in China face a fair bit of less than fair or equal treatment or find themselves buffetted by unpredictable political winds, but so what? Rendering New Zealand’s FDI regime unfair, capricious and opaque, especially when it comes to Chinese investment, will not help to improve things in China. Quite the opposite. What goes around comes around. If New Zealand starts screwing around in its trade with China, then Kiwis in China can expect to be screwed around.
The rest of what Trevett reports seems perfectly reasonable to me, so much so that I find myself wondering if she is actually writing about New Zealand politicians. New Zealand does need foreign investment. To attract FDI, potential investors do need to be confident that the FDI regime is fair and transparent.
Then John Armstrong says Maurice Williamson was right to release documents regarding the sale, but again talks about pressure where all I can see is people being reasonable. China needs to ensure Chinese companies get a fair go, New Zealand needs to attract foreign investment.
And not for the first time in this long, drawn-out affair I find myself agreeing with Fran O’Sullivan. New Zealand’s foreign investment regime needs a thorough going over and sorting out. After all, as O’Sullivan writes:
Inside word is that some investors – including Hong Kong business magnate Li Ka-shing, who walked away from a multimillion-dollar bid for Powerco rather than jump through the OIO’s absurd hoops – now view New Zealand as “too hard”.
This is not the kind of reputation such a capital-starved country needs.
Li’s “no-confidence vote” will not surprise any of the Kiwi lawyers, accountants or bankers who have been tearing their hair out trying to explain to overseas investors why New Zealand’s foreign investment regime is now decidedly opaque.
Trying to convince clients to dress up their bids to meet the new OIO test set by Justice Miller’s judgment on the Crafar farms decision has proved difficult. The problem is major business assets on “sensitive land” are also caught by the Miller ruling, not just farmland.
Pity about the weak and silly pun she concludes with, though. But she’s right, the system is broke, and further messed up by Justice Miller, and it clearly needs some serious fixing.
And in other China-New Zealand news: the New Zealand immigration minister Nathan Guy is in Guangzhou visiting Liang Weifa, head of Public Security in Guangdong, and National Party president Peter Goodfellow is also in Guangzhou, but meeting Wang Yang, Guangdong provincial Party secretary. There’s not much remarkable about either article that I can see, the usual happy words about friendship, cooperation, and developing closer relationships. But all of this has me wondering: Could I be seeing the government leading New Zealand in a new direction before ordinary people have gotten on board? People generally fear change, and New Zealand does have a history of anti-Asian and specifically anti-Chinese sentiment, and there was that Cold War, whose clammy legacy still lingers, and perhaps the government is taking things a bit further than a lot of ordinary Kiwis are quite ready for? I dunno, just a thot….
getting attention
Yes, I know, it’s getting to be all Jia Qinglin all the time around here, but here are a couple of things that amused me:
The NZ Herald states that Jia did not raise the Crafar farms in official talks yesterday, has Acting Prime Minister Bill English not expecting the farms to be raised, and quotes English as describing yesterday’s intemperate outburst from Green co-leader as a “conspiracy theory”.
Global Times (《环球时报》, via Sina) quotes Prime Minister John Key as describing Norman’s sudden rush of blood to the pharynx as “纯属胡说” – and of all the possible translations I can think of, the one I can most imagine John Key saying is “utter nonsense”.
But I’m wondering… If English is Acting PM, doesn’t that suggest Key is out of the country? How did Global Times find him for comment? Oh, here he is, in Indonesia.
But back to Jia’s visit to New Zealand: It’s not often I find myself agreeing completely with an NZ Herald editorial. Just don’t read the comments thread that follows.
Now something I’ve noticed in three articles. In reports of Jia’s meetings with Christchurch mayor Bob Parker, Acting PM English and Speaker Lockwood Smith, although Jia’s speech is reported first and gets the larger share of the article, as soon as the report switches to the Kiwi official’s speech, the phrase “中新” – Sino-New Zealand – switches to “新中” – NZ-China. Also, both Jia and Parker invoke the spirit of Rewi Alley, a Canterbury (how far out of Christchurch is Springfield these days?) native and son of both countries, Smith gets lots of praise for his role in advancing Sino-New Zealand relations (he was international trade minister as China was negotiating with NZ and pushed through the first of the bilateral trade agreements China needed in the process of joining the WTO, for example).
people notice
So I may have ranted too soon. Hardly a surprise. The NZ Herald and Stuff have published an opinion piece by Jia Qinglin on his visit to NZ. I’ve only glanced at what Stuff published, but it looks identical to what’s in the Herald.
It’s funny, cos the first half of what I read seemed to be almost verbatim translated quotations from Chinese-language articles I read yesterday. The rest is pretty standard Chinese political speech, so far as I can tell.
But then I saw Russel Norman fly off the handle. And that’s really annoying because there is a lot of Green policy I really like, but as soon as talk turns to China, I find myself wondering which of several possible alternative realities the Green MPs and their staffers are living in. The prime example in this case:
Mr Jia, who will be at the Beehive this afternoon, called for New Zealand to provide a policy environment to make Chinese investment in New Zealand easier.
Mr Jia did not specifically mention the bid by Shanghai Pengxin for 16 Crafar farms in receivership, which is awaiting another ministerial decision, having been approved by ministers and then knocked back by the High Court.
But he said: “China also encourages capable and credible Chinese companies to invest in New Zealand.“We hope New Zealand will provide them with an enabling policy environment and facilitate Chinese investment so as to scale up two-way investment and achieve all-round and balanced growth in our business ties.”
Which Norman characterises as:
a clear challenge to the sovereignty of the New Zealand Government, no less than the United States challenge over nuclear weapons in the 1980s
ummmm… what?
The issue with the US was US opposition to an enactment of a law forbidding nuclear weapons and nuclear powered naval vessels from New Zealand territory, even though that law was passed by a democratically elected government with the support of a majority of the New Zealand people, and a law which every other nuclear power has managed to respect while still sending naval vessels on official visits to New Zealand. What Jia Qinglin wrote under the title The Free Trade Agreement was:
New Zealand leads the developed countries in growing business ties with China. It is the “first” or the “only” country in many ways in doing business with China. New Zealand was the first Western developed country to conclude bilateral negotiation with China on China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, the first to recognize China’s full Market Economy Status and the first to sign and implement a bilateral free trade agreement with China.
It was also the first country to sign and implement a free trade arrangement with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. This makes New Zealand the only country with free trade arrangements with both the mainland and Hong Kong of China.
Economic cooperation and trade has become the propeller and ballast of China-New Zealand relations.The signing of the China-New Zealand FTA in 2008 brought about greater opportunities for growing our business ties. Thanks to the smooth implementation of the FTA, our bilateral trade has grown steadily despite continued uncertainties in the global economy. It has driven friendly exchanges and practical co-operation in various areas between the two countries and played an important role in facilitating economic and social progress and bringing benefits to people in our respective countries. Last year, the two-way trade reached $US8.723 billion, 970 times the figure at the time of the establishment of diplomatic relations 40 years ago.
China has become New Zealand’s second largest trading partner and export market and biggest source of imports. China is also New Zealand’s biggest export market of dairy products and logs.
In April last year, the two sides signed a bilateral local currency swap agreement, which has further facilitated two-way investment and trade.
Given the two countries’ industrial structure, resource endowment and market demand, China and New Zealand have a lot to offer each other and enjoy huge potential for co-operation.
The two sides need to continue to make good use of the FTA, the currency swap agreement and other co-operation documents and seek to meet ahead of schedule the trade target of $NZ20 billion by 2015 set by the leaders of the two countries.
While deepening co-operation in such traditional fields as agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry, we should actively explore new areas of mutually beneficial co-operation and expand co-operation in food safety, clean energy and infrastructure development.
China welcomes New Zealand companies to invest in China and will continue to provide them with a sound investment environment.
China also encourages capable and credible Chinese companies to invest in New Zealand.
We hope New Zealand will provide them with an enabling policy environment and facilitate Chinese investment so as to scale up two-way investment and achieve all-round and balanced growth in our business ties.
It’s amazing what happens when you put things in context, isn’t it? It’s not China demanding easy and open access to New Zealand. There’s no erosion of New Zealand sovereignty. This is not even remotely comparable with the US demanding that a democratically elected NZ government rescind a law supported by the NZ people. No. There’s an awful lot in there praising NZ engagement with China and encouraging NZ investment in China and further cooperation in both traditional and new fields.
Now, question all you want Jia’s honesty and sincerity. He is a politician, after all. But for crying out loud, so much of the hysteria surrounding the Shanghai Pengxin bid for the Crafar Farms, mentioned by Norman as he flew off the handle in the article linked above, had no basis in reality whatsoever. What is so hard about basing one’s arguments in fact?
Jia does openly call for easier Chinese investment in New Zealand. That’s his job. But he also openly invites New Zealand investment in China. He does explicitly state that New Zealand has resources China wants – empty space and expertise in and a tradition of producing high quality, safe food, for example. But he equally explicitly states that China has resources and expertise New Zealand is after, or at least should be (infrastructure development, for example).
a comparison
A quick comparison:
Jia Qinglin is visiting New Zealand. Yahoo’s NZ edition has a typically short Newstalk ZB report which mentions that he’s ranked 4th in the Chinese leadership, he’ll be there for 4 days, is hosted by acting PM Bill English, and will meet the governor general and Speaker Lockwood Smith (but why give the Speaker’s name, but not the governor general’s?) and visit Christchurch and Queenstown. Earth to Radioland: news does require detail. It’s not just the filler that holds your ads together. Right, so I generally don’t bother reading anything with a radio station’s name attached, I only opened this one for the sake of comparing.
Xinhua (via Sohu) quotes Jia saying lots of nice stuff about NZ-Chinese relations, and also manages to point out that in fact he is in Christchurch (rather than somewhere in NZ with a view to visiting Christchurch), and says Minister of Primary Industries David Carter, Christchurch mayor Bob Parker, other NZ officials, and Chinese ambassador to New Zealand Xu Jianguo were at the airport to meet him.
Stuff has the headline Chinese leader tours red zone, then agrees with Newstalk ZB about Jia’s 4th rank. It has Jia met at the Christchurch airport military terminal by David Carter, Bob Parker, and unnamed representatives of Ngai Tahu. He’s photographed looking all bright orange with Gerry Brownlee in Cathedral Square, and it’s reported that he’ll tour the red zone and the Antarctic Centre, have a lunch meeting with Bob Parker, head off to Arrowtown to visit the Southern Lakes District Museum and Chinese Settlement, visit Queenstown tomorrow and Wellington on Tuesday.
The NZ Herald has Fran O’Sullivan opining last Wednesday on the uncertainty injected into NZ’s foreign investment regime by Justice Forrie’s rejection of the Shanghai Pengxin bid for the Crafar Farms, a piece that starts with a couple of pertinent reminders:
The Government clearly hopes the Crafar Farms’ controversy will be put to bed before China’s fourth-ranked leader Jia Qinglin visits Christchurch and Wellington in mid-April.
Jia’s 130-strong entourage will include several major Chinese investors in New Zealand companies. Many of them will be on a shopping mission armed with capital, manufacturing capacity, distribution channels and commercial links to the rapidly evolving Chinese consumer market.
It would be nice if she explained why it is now doubtful that Jia will announce “special Chinese Government financial assistance to rebuild Christchurch.” But a glance through today’s Herald has me wondering if she’s the only one in Auckland who’s even noticed he was on his way.
Well, Stuff does have a huge advantage in that it’s parent company also happens to own the Press, and therefore already had people on the ground without having to stump up plane fare and accomodation, but still, I would’ve thought the Herald would at least have somebody paying attention.
TVNZ seems to be completely unaware Jia has done anything since 2008. That search was done at roughly 3:30pm NZ time – I’d’ve thought they’d at least manage to get some news about Jia’s morning in Christchurch up by then.
TV3 has at least noticed Jia is on his way, although adds no new information to what Stuff has.
I don’t know if I have a point to make. Just thought I’d compare.
It’s interesting that Xinhua focusses on what Jia has to say while the NZ media, when they’ve noticed he’s visiting, are only interested on who and where he visits and completely ignore what he or any of his party or their Kiwi hosts has to say.
And I guess it goes to show why, if you want to know what’s going on in the world, you need to get your news from a wide variety of sources.
And it’s yet another example of why I find myself wondering how Kiwis can be expected to respond rationally to the rise of China or Chinese investment in New Zealand when the NZ media’s coverage of Chinese stories is full of such gaping holes.
As you were.
films, friends and pears
After reading a report on an Asia NZ Foundation survey showing Kiwis have warmer perceptions of Asia and Asian people, with a rather silly headline here, I was interested to see three articles in my daily Baidu News alert.
Qingdao is holding a New Zealand film festival, and starting today and running until the 19 April, 5 NZ feature films and 5 NZ short films will be shown. The article points out that this year is the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand and the fourth anniversary of the establishment of a sister city relationship between Auckland and Qingdao, and that New Zealand is the only country to have a long-term cooperative film festival in China. It also says this festival is a great chance for the good people of Qingdao to get to know and understand New Zealand and its culture. All I can say is that this is a great idea, and it would be even better if the festival could tour several Chinese cities.
And 22 tons of New Zealand pears have passed through customs at Dalian and will soon be on the market. Why should this be news? Apparently this is the first load of NZ pears imported to China, it’s been done under the auspices of the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, a second load of 40 tons of New Zealand pears are on the way, and if the market receives them well, more will be imported. The article points out that they’re taking advantage of the Southern Hemisphere’s reversed seasons to put otherwise out of season fruit on the Chinese market. I don’t know if that’s a first or a recent trend, but it makes perfect sense.
And with Jia Qinglin due to arrive in New Zealand tomorrow, Xinhua’s reporter Huang Xingwei interviewed Chinese ambassador in Wellington Xu Jianguo. Xu said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and the PRC in 1972, the relationship between the two countries has developed to a mature stage and is the best its been in history. Communication and cooperation in such fields as politics, commerce, science and education and culture and the friendship between the peoples of the two countries have continuously deepened. The relationship between China and New Zealand is a model for relations between China and Western developed countries.
Alright, it’s Xinhua, and there’s a lot of the usual political nonsense. But how’s this: Trade between New Zealand and China totalled 13.33 billion New Zealand dollars in 2011, and China became New Zealand’s second largest trading partner and export market, and China became New Zealand’s biggest source of imports. In 2010 Chinese and New Zealand leaders agreed a target of Sin0-Kiwi trade breaking through 20 billion NZD in 2015.
And in the field of cultural exchange, that New Zealand film festival is mentioned again. It’s been running since 1998, and this month it will visit Beijing and Guangzhou as well as Qingdao.
I’m still surprised, given all the recent hysteria over Shanghai Pengxin’s bid for the Crafar Farms and Huawei’s involvement in broadband infrastructure, how the Chinese media coverage of New Zealand I see is still so balanced and even positive.
more Kiwi cows to China
I first saw an article about this yesterday, but by the time I’d gotten home after an unusually tough bout with Beijing traffic and had been relieved of sole-charge childcare duties I was too exhausted to do anything with it. But when it showed up in my inbox the second day in a row, I thought it might be worth a second look.
It starts with a bland statement about modernisation, concentration and scaling being three trends of the dairy industry, then gets to the point:
不久前，蒙牛河北衡水武强县北大洼现代牧场引进3400头新西兰奶牛，促进原奶水平的提升。
Not long ago, Mengniu’s Beidawa Modern Farm in Wuqiang County, Hengshui, Hebei imported 3400 New Zealand dairy cows, raising the quality of the milk.
According to the article, construction of this farming project began in April 2011, and it includes a milk processing plant that can handle 600 tons of high grade milk and 360 tons of ordinary milk each day and 3 high-standard farms with ten thousand cows each.
Wow. Ten thousand cows on each of three farms. That’s either some serious exaggeration or when they said “scaling” they meant “orbital”.
Unfortunately, that’s about all that grabs me in that article. But it’s not the first time I’ve come across news of New Zealand dairy cows being imported to China, and on both occasions, improving the quality of the milk produced has been the key motivation. I’ve also noticed that Fonterra’s China partners like to play up the clean, green, 100% pure New Zealand connection in their advertising. And this strong Chinese demand for clean, safe food is an opportunity New Zealand really should be grabbing with both hands and both feet and milking (yes, intended) for all its worth. Just try and keep the horrid, cow-shit-clogged state of our lowland waterways a secret…
a pleasant surprise
Posted by wangbo in Environment, news on March 28, 2012
Well, after all that ranting, what do I find? NZ and China – sustainable together. I came across this a bit late last night to do anything more than make a note of the link and have a read, but it’s nice to not be ranting all the time.
Now, perhaps that’s a bit too much of a pendulum swing, but it is nice to see, given the gaping lack of China coverage, an article examining ways in which China and New Zealand can work in ways that are, to perhaps steal a bit too much CCP-speak, mutually beneficial. I particularly like the focus on green tech and the environment. It strikes me that that is certainly one (of many) areas where the two could certainly learn a lot from each other.
Nelson mayor in China
Posted by wangbo in news, ranting, tilting at windmills on March 27, 2012
I may, perhaps, be getting a little obssessed with the giant, gaping holes in the mainstream NZ media’s coverage of China. Hot on the heels of Tim Groser’s leading a trade delegation to China, a trip that apparently completely did not happen if you only read English, comes news of Nelson mayor Aldo Miccio leading his own delegation to China. And once again, it apparently only happened in the Sinophone world. Not even the Nelson Mail seems to be able to find time to cover the goings on of their own mayor (although, to be fair, something may have appeared in the print edition but not online…).
Quzhou municipal party secretary Zhao Yide travelled up to Hangzhou to meet Miccio. They discussed further communication and cooperation in fields such as tourism, agriculture, education, and development and exploitation of mineral resources.
Miccio also took his delegation down to Jiangmen, where they were reported to be completely satisfied with the investment environment. Miccio said he was left with a deep impression and would recommend Jiangmen to local enterprises after his return to Nelson.
And both those articles end with a brief introduction of Nelson including a quick rundown on its important industries.
Now, I dunno, but I’m still wondering why, after the Shanghai Pengxin/Crafar farms saga, with China’s economy somehow still managing to charge full steam ahead, with all the potential future economic troubles here, with NZ leaders for decades now having waffled about moving our economic focus away from our traditional European, North American and Australian partners and growing new markets in Asia, with the current sorry state of Western economies, why Tim Groser and Aldo Miccio can lead trade delegations to China and NZ’s media not cover them. Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places. Maybe my google fu is just really bad. I dunno.
I do know I frequently find myself frustrated with the incredibly shallow and fragmented nature of the knowledge of China displayed by so many Kiwis, and I think it’s becoming reasonably clear that I am somewhat frustrated with the immense holes in the mainstream NZ media’s coverage of China. Something tells me their may be a relationship between these two phenomena.
And a couple of tangents:
I also know that I’ve found coverage of John Key’s trip to the nuclear summit in South Korea really pathetic so far. So he gets to hitch a ride on the Korean president’s Blackhawks to pay his respects at the ANZAC memorial. Well, he certainly does seem to enjoy his military helicopters, does our John. Apparently Obama stole his hotel room, or some such nonsense. Oh, wait, today the serious stuff starts. Oh, but wait, I thought he was there to talk nuclear security, not free trade or his lack of drinking buddies, or name dropping. An edit I was hoping to do a little more instantly, but that was held back by an odd connectivity problem: Oh, but wait, there is something on nuclear security tacked on the end of that name dropping article:
“I’ll challenge them to do a bit more, actually.”
Um, that’s nice, dear. But you don’t think you could persuade Claire Trevett to go into a little bit more detail in her article, could you? Oops, sorry, in my haste to hit publish I forgot I also had this article open. It’s a little better.
Now, having ranted all that, I must say I appreciated the NZ Herald posting this fun takedown of Gerry Brownlee’s ignorant bloviations on the sorry state of Finland.
Caixin interviews Tim Groser
*Updated below.
So New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser is in Beijing, and Caixin interviewed him. In light of the recent kerfuffle over the attempted purchase of the Crafar farms by Shanghai Pengxin and much of the blatantly xenophobic opposition that arose, I was kinda curious what he had to say. And I’d read through most of it before I remembered Caixin has an English version, and my well have already translated it, which could save me a bit of hassle, because there are a few interesting comments. Well, I can’t find it, and it does seem as if the English and Chinese versions of Caixin have quite different target audiences (duh…) so here goes:
Those who got all hot under the collar over the spectre of a Chinese company buying the 16 Crafar farms better steel themselves, because if Groser has his way, there’ll be plenty more Chinese would-be investors knocking on Kiwi doors:
他呼吁中国加大对新西兰的投资力度，称一些争议应通过政治手段解决。
He called for China to intensify its investment in New Zealand and said some disputes should be resolved through political methods.
Oh dear.
Then there’s a quick review of the rapid growth in NZ-China relations in recent years, noting that China is now NZ’s second largest trading partner and largest source of foreign students, then quotes Groser as saying:
“作为新西兰的贸易部长，如果每年不至少访华三次，就是不称职。”
“As New Zealand’s trade minister, if I didn’t visit China at least three times a year, that would be incompetent.”
Well, I was tempted to just write “…I wouldn’t be doing my job.” But whatever, he clearly places a lot of importance on China trade.
Caixin reports that on this, his first visit to China of 2012, he’ll meet Chinese commerce minister Chen Deming to discuss the WTO and how to strengthen the bilateral free trade agreement as well as relevant regional trade issues.
Strengthen the New Zealand-China FTA. This is where it gets interesting, especially with the Shanghai Pengxin/Crafar farms issue still simmering away waiting for the next outburst of xenophobia. If Groser has his way, some people are going to find themselves uncomfortably adjusting to a strange, new reality:
新西兰是世界上唯一与中国签订FTA的发达国家。双方相互出口的90%均享受零关税。格罗泽表示，两国贸易关系建立在优惠政策的基础上。“对华FTA在未来十年将改变新西兰经济。”
New Zealand is the only developed country in the world to have signed an FTA with China. 90% of exports between both parties enjoy zero tariffs*. Groser said the two countries’ trade relationship is built on a foundation of preferential policies. “The FTA with China will change New Zealand’s economy over the next 10 years.”
*One thing that seemed to dominate Baidu news alerts a couple of weeks ago was the news that New Zealand wine was now to join the list of NZ exports to China facing zero tariffs.
This next bit might scare a few: Groser told Caixin that Chinese investment in New Zealand is still relatively small, and that:
新西兰希望能吸引来自中国对于乳业、林业、可再生能源等领域的投资。
New Zealand hopes it can attract more investment from China in areas such as dairy, forestry, and renewable energy.
Oh, I’m sure the Greens, Labour and NZ First would love to hear that.
Caixin then gives a brief recap of the Shanghai Pengxin/Crafar farms saga, a recap I find quite fair and reasonable, then reports Groser as saying this was the first time in five years such a case had aroused political controversy, and that New Zealand welcomes Chinese investment in New Zealand land, but that investment must meet New Zealand’s standards and the process must follow New Zealand law. He points out that New Zealand’s investment policy is far more open than those of most developed countries, with 99% of applications approved. Over the past 5 years, the purchase by foreigners of 870 thousand hectares of New Zealand land has been approved, and:
“这表明我们并不没有采取闭门政策。”
“This demonstrates that we have certainly not adopted a closed-door policy.”
He denies that the Shanghai Pengxin case shows New Zealand is refusing foreign investment, and says:
“我们的投资政策框架之一是外国对新西兰土地的投资必须为新西兰带来效益，这一框架适用于所有国家。”
“One of the frames of our investment policy is that foreign investment in New Zealand must bring benefits to New Zealand, and this frame is used in every country.”
He then briefly explains the process of applying for approval by the Overseas Investment Office and that the court will hear any local opposition to a proposed foreign investment, but ends the piece with:
但“这种情况并不常见”。
but “this is a rare occurence.”
And I really don’t envy Tim Groser his job, visiting China as New Zealand trade minister trying to drum up Chinese investment in New Zealand while there is still a large, neon-pink, unavoidable elephant by the name of “blatantly xenophobic opposition to a [gasp] Chinese [!!] company trying to buy New Zealand dairy farms” sitting in the room.
But then I started to wonder how the New Zealand media was covering Groser’s visit to China. I remember reading on Saturday he was departing on that trip, but searches of the NZ Herald, Stuff, TVNZ and TV3 News websites for ‘Tim Groser China’, at least at the time the links were added to this post, reveal….nothing since reports of his departure for China on Saturday, with TV3 not even managing that.
Do none of them have any journalists tagging along to cover his visit? Are they not trying to find out what is being discussed between Groser’s mission and their counterparts? Given the magnitude of the Chinese economic development story and the recent controversy over Shanghai Pengxin’s not-quite (-yet?) successful bid for the Crafar farms, I’m surprised not to see this story plastered all over their front pages. And the things he told Caixin in that interview really should be a big story in New Zealand. Amazing.
Update: And today the NZ Herald reports Tim Groser has moved on to Malaysia, but still has no coverage of what he got up to here in China. And so I’m left wondering if the New Zealand public has any idea of the government’s foreign trade and investment policies.
contaminated Australasian beef
In this morning’s Baidu news alert were two articles that grabbed my attention, both, according to their headlines, on the discovery in Taiwan of clenbuterol hydrochloride-contaminated beef imported from Australia and New Zealand. Curious, I opened them up and also went looking through the NZ press to see if it been covered there. After all, NZ is almost entirely dependent on agricultural exports for its economic survival.
The first of the two Chinese articles struck me as being rather vague, moving quickly from the allegation of clenbuterol hydrochloride-contaminated beef imported from Australia and New Zealand to checking out Wuhan supermarkets, but without stating clearly the shift from Taiwan to Wuhan, even giving only the English names of the supermarkets the reporter visited.
The second goes into more detail, and manages to keep the action in Taiwan, but the more I read the less clear it is where the contaminated meat was actually sourced from. For example:
另外，大山卖出这批货给小吃部时，没有明确说明来源
Also, when Dashan [a lamb/hogget/mutton and beef company caught supplying a restaurant in Taidong with contaminated beef] sold these goods to the restaurant they did not say clearly the origin [of the product]
What is clear is that the matter is under investigation, and that American beef may also be involved. There’s also a suggestion of worries over possible imports of North American beef because clenbuterol is apparently a legal additive in the USA and Canada, but not in Taiwan…. I’m therefore unsure of how American beef could have previously been mentioned in the article, if it’s not legal in Taiwan… Except that according to Wikipedia clenbuterol’s administration to animals that could be consumed by humans is banned in the USA…
And then I did a search on google.co.nz news, Stuff and the New Zealand Herald. What did I find? In the Herald, nothing relevant. Stuff was no better. Nor, for that matter, are either TVNZ or TV3. On google.co.nz, this article from Taipei Times. Except that Taipei Times has the contaminant of the New Zealand beef as ractopamine, and the allegedly Australian contaminated beef as contaminated with zilpaterol, and notes that both additives are banned in both Taiwan and Australia.
Aha! And Baidu Baike resolves my confusion over exactly what the contaminant is… kinda…:
瘦肉精是一类动物用药，有数种药物被称为瘦肉精，例如莱克多巴胺（Ractopamine）及克伦特罗（Clenbuterol）等。
Shouroujing is a kind of veterinary medicine, and many medicines are called shouroujing, for example Ractopamine and Clenbuterol.
Now, is it safe to assume the Taipei Times found out exactly which of the medicines called shouroujing were the contaminants?
But I do have to wonder, given that I can easily find Chinese- and English-language articles on the subject in the Mainland and Taiwan media, and given how dependent New Zealand is on agricultural exports and its clean, green image for its economic survival, and given how paranoid China has become about food safety, and given that Fonterra’s Chinese partners play up that 100% pure, clean, green NZ connection in their advertising (yes, I know that’s dairy rather than beef, but they’re both agricultural exports), why the NZ media seems so silent on this subject? Surely this is an issue which could potentially have a very serious impact on New Zealand’s economy? Surely at a time when the government seems determined to fire everybody then bash them for daring to be unemployed, the last thing New Zealand needs is those who are doing something useful and productive like producing goods for sale to suffer over perceptions, justified or otherwise, of the safety, or lack thereof, of our exports? And if New Zealand is producing contaminated beef, surely Something Needs To Be Done?