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【Text/Guochazhe.com Liu Chenghui】According to AFP, New Zealand Prime Minister Laxon said in a speech on August 15 local time that New Zealand will strengthen its national defense and "reset" its foreign policy to move closer to its traditional Western allies. When referring to China, he said that China is still New Zealand's largest trading partner and has significant influence, but the two sides "cannot and will not agree" on certain issues. The report said that after maintaining close economic ties with China for many years, New Zealand's strategy may change significantly.

At the Lowy Institute, an Australian foreign policy think tank, Laxon delivered his first major foreign policy speech since taking office last year. He said New Zealand could not continue to live in "wonderful isolation" caused by its geographical location.

"Resetting our foreign policy must be based on working with long-term partners." He said New Zealand would seek to strengthen its relationships with traditional allies such as the United States, Britain, NATO and its Pacific neighbors because "we know these countries best and we have deep trust with each other."

AFP said this was a significant change after years of close economic ties between New Zealand and China.

On August 15, Lacson delivered his first major foreign policy speech at the Lowy Institute in Australia. AFP

Laxon also said that China remains New Zealand's largest trading partner and its "influence is unquestionable." But he also said that China and New Zealand have different values, which means that "there are certain issues on which we cannot and will not agree."

Lacson also outlined "tectonic shifts" in regional geopolitics, warning New Zealand must remain aware of the risk of regional conflict.

"We cannot achieve prosperity without security. New Zealand must be a participant and a contributor, not just an interested spectator."

Lacson also suggested a review of defense policy to focus on updating and modernizing the country’s military capabilities.

In an interview published by the Financial Times last month, Lacson repeatedly hyped up the so-called "Chinese spy case", claiming that intelligence agencies will disclose more and more such cases to raise the country's awareness of "security threats". He also claimed that New Zealand hopes to raise the entire business community's vigilance against this threat, which reflects the strategy adopted by the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia.

It is worth noting that long before taking office, Lacson had emphasized that "he hopes to obtain China's aid and support" and "there are many advantages and benefits in obtaining China's financing." Now, he said that New Zealand regards China as a strategic competitor in the Indo-Pacific region and is seeking a balanced strategy, which includes cooperation in areas such as dairy trade, renewable energy coordination and expanding people-to-people ties.

He also said New Zealand would continue to develop trade with China and strive to double total exports within a decade, but he then insisted that if necessary, he would not hold back on criticizing China for fear of "retaliatory economic coercion."

In mid-July, Clark, who served as New Zealand's prime minister for nine years, teamed up with his former political rival, Brash, then leader of the New Zealand opposition, to write a joint statement criticizing Lacson for dangerously deviating from New Zealand's independent foreign policy that it had adhered to for decades, and warned that the pro-American tendency shown by the Lacson government was dragging the country "increasingly into the vortex of Sino-US competition."

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