China’s attitude has become more aggressive than before, PM of New Zealand said in an interview

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Looking back on her last five years as New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern said that during this period China’s attitude in the region has undoubtedly become more aggressive than before. He also cautioned that building relationships with smaller Pacific countries should not become a game of trying to dominate the other. Ardern said in a joint interview with The Associated Press and the Australian Associated Press that China has changed in recent years under the leadership of President Xi Jinping.

He said, I think if I look at the region from a little distance, one of the changes that we have seen in our region is that we see a more aggressive China. Ardern said, there would be many reasons for this. Its integration into the regional economy, the development of China, the development of its middle class. There is a whole series of such reasons. He said, you have seen a more assertive approach on many different issues and relations. So this change has undoubtedly happened during my tenure.

China’s actions in the Pacific Ocean
China made some bold geopolitical moves in the Pacific this year. It signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands and then tried unsuccessfully to get 10 Pacific countries to sign a comprehensive agreement covering everything from security to fisheries. The moves have alarmed some Pacific countries and Western democracies, including the US, but Ardern dismissed criticism that New Zealand had not made a substantial presence this year.

We are like a family – Ardern
Ardern said, our relationship in the Pacific region is family because we are like a family, we are part of the Pacific. He said that these relationships have been built at the community level. Ardern said that we have to be really careful about our relations that building relations with other Pacific countries should not become an attempt to dominate the other.