New Zealand may not, after all, have lived up to that very high bar of democratic, tech, and journalistic integrity, such as what might have recently been presented and reiterated by former CIA analysts testifying in the US.
Thatโs something of a surprise, given the countryโs recent push to place itself on the forefront of what is saw and declared to be democracy-affirming activities.
After all, letโs recall โ after a mass-murderer in March shot up two mosques in New Zealand, killing at least 50 people โ New Zealand, this previously quiet and digitally free end of the world โ sprung up to action.
Immediately in the wake of the shocking crime two months ago, websites were arbitrarily blocked, along with content depicting the crime posted on major global social media platforms, while Big Tech was pressured to find a quick fix to police all content found on their mega-structure global platforms. Or else.
And only earlier this month, New Zealand, along with EUโs perennial โoverachieverโ France, came up with the Christchurch Call โ in the same vein. The United States said โnoโ to the initiative โ because, long story short โ lip-service quoted for a couple of hours on newswires would never be worth sacrificing a nationโs reputation as a beacon of free speech online.
But that was not a concern New Zealandโs government has had. They heartily launched and supported that particular initiative, formulated along with France.
Nevertheless โ apparently, none of these formidable sacrifices have been enough to stave off other concerns about the countryโs true policies and intentions โ in the much grander scale of geopolitical concerns.
So what is this all about? Can a country overachieve in one democratic aspect, and then fall very much short of the same standard in another?
Now, New Zealand is being accused of not standing up to China as well as it should do. And there are suggestions that this may even be a reason to kick it out of a long-standing western intelligence community.
Namely โ humans have two eyes, spiders have eight โ and then thereโs the Five Eyes โ the โanglophoneโ signals intelligence grouping comprising the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, and New Zealand, set up about half a century ago.
And as there is more to life โ and international relations โ than just the daily events, however tragic they may be โ reports now suggest that in the grand scheme of things โ one of the Five Eyes members, namely, New Zealand, may not have lived up to its promise of the alliance โ especially when it comes to its links with China.
At least thatโs what former CIA China expert Peter Mattis has said in his testimony before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in April, to further assert that New Zealand has not done enough to stand up to the meddling by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
New Zealandโs former and present prime ministers, Bill English, and Jacinda Ardern have both been accused here of โdenying thereโs a problem at allโ by Mattis, a Jamestown Foundation fellow.
Mattis also stated that New Zealandโs membership in the โFive Eyesโ should be reconsidered, given the countryโs alleged unwillingness to face fundamental problems concerning the Chinese influence.
He also asserted that Chinaโs ruling party has had close links with both Australiaโs and New Zealandโs โcoreโ ruling structures โ but that these two countries have reacted differently โ and Mattis likes Australiaโs reaction much more.
Namely, while Australia has moved to order a secret government study that eventually proved that the Chinese Communist Party was trying to โinfluence all levels of politicsโ down under โ and based on these findings, legislated a series of laws to counter โespionage, foreign political donations, and foreign interferenceโ โ New Zealand has fallen well behind.
โItโs important for the United States to consider that China may be testing methods of interference to probe for weaknesses in democracies in order to use the same techniques against Western countries in the future,โ Mattis stated.
He added that the Chinese Communist Party had worked โvery close to or inside the political coreโ of Australia and New Zealand and โone of the major fundraisers for Jacinda Ardernโs party has United Front linksโ.
โThat, you have to say, this is close enough to the central political core of the New Zealand system that we have to think about whether or not they take action and what kinds of action. What do they do to reduce the risk?โ
Mattis mentioned China expert Professor Anne-Marie Brady from the University of Canterbury โ who is said to be the first to alert to Chinaโs rising influence in New Zealand โ and then deal with her home and office being burgled.
But both New Zealand parties โ led by the countryโs former and current prime ministers โ denied these accusations, and said their policies, including accepting donations, were completely legal.