Jacinda Ardern says China should be allowed to join 11-nation trading pact

Jacinda Ardern says China should be allowed to join a lucrative 11-nation trading pact provided it meets the minimum requirements.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (R) poses for a photo with Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison ahead of their annual talks in Queenstown in May 31.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said China should be allowed to join a lucrative 11-nation trading pact provided it met the minimum requirements, putting her at odds with the Australian government which has signalled it could veto China’s application.

China in September applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which emerged in 2018 from the remnants of Trans-Pacific Partnership, from which Donald Trump withdrew the US in 2017 in one of his first acts as president.

“A number of countries have expressed interest, if you’re willing to engage and meet those standards, then we welcome that,” Ms Ardern said, speaking on US network NBC on Sunday morning.

“The CPTPP has set I think a really high bar for what free trade agreements and multi-country free trade agreements can look like, and we would welcome any country into that agreement that’s willing to meet those standards,” she added.

Any of the 11 nations, which includes Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico, can veto the application of a potential new member.

Taiwan applied to join the group a week after China’s application, creating a tricky diplomatic situation for the group, some of whose members, including Japan and Australia, have strained relations with Beijing.

China has steadily escalated a trade war with Australia after Canberra called for a global inquiry into the origins of Covid-19 early last year, putting a series of sanctions and tariffs on Australia exports including timber, barley, coal and lobsters, and refusing to speak to ministers.

Jacinda Ardern addresses the Labour Party Annual Conference in Wellington.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan has said China would need to restore diplomatic relations at the ministerial level ahead of any negotiations to join the CP-TPP, and promise to end its coercive trade measures.

“One of the most important things about negotiating the accession process of any country into the CPTPP is that you have to be able to sit down at ministerial level, look your economic partner in the eye, and talk about that accession process,” Mr Tehan said in September.

Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump has fuelled speculation the US might try join the group as well, following a UK application to join in February, and an expectation the US, having its problems with Beijing, would want to neutralise any Chinese influence in the group.

Ms Ardern said adequate labour, environmental and human rights standards were already part of the CP-TPP agreement. “Countries who wish to be a part of it, it’s not about making a values judgment, [standards] are embedded in agreement themselves. That really becomes the test,” she said.

Ms Ardern said China’s treatment of Australia hadn’t altered her government’s own foreign policy, which some analysts have criticised as too close to the communist dictatorship after New Zealand signed up to Beijing’s Belt and Road partnership in 2019.

“Yes, I’ve observed the tension exist between various trading nations and China, and we’ve noted those heightened tensions and seen it ourselves, but for us we will always be consistent; it won’t change the way we behave,” she said.