2 Dec 2020

Trade specialist says PM's China comments "unnecessary"

From Midday Report, 12:42 pm on 2 December 2020

China has expressed surprise that New Zealand's Prime Minister  has formally registered concern about the promotion of a doctored image of an Australian soldier on social media.

The faked photo, tweeted by a Chinese foreign ministry official, shows an Australian soldier holding a knife to an Afghan child's throat.

Australia has called for an apology - a request that's been brushed off by China, as tensions rise between the two nations.

But will New Zealand's choice to weigh-in on the issue impact our country's relationship with China?

Māni Dunlop spoke to  Pat English, a former trade commissioner in China, and former director of the New Zealand China Council