Advertisement Conservative former businessman Christopher Luxon will be New Zealand’s next prime minister after winning a decisive election victory Saturday. People voted for change after six years of a liberal government led for most of that time by Jacinda Ardern. Luxon arrived to rapturous applause at an event in Auckland on Saturday. He was joined … Read more
Advertisement Is New Zealand about to join a “NATO-Plus”? That seems to be the effective endgame, if reports ahead of New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ attendance at the NATO summit in Lithuania are anything to go by. Formally, the expansion by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) into the Indo-Pacific is unlikely to use … Read more
Advertisement New Zealand displayed all the successful components of realpolitik in June, as the nation strengthened it military ties with Fiji and Japan, whilst also managing to have a meeting of “great significance” with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The former, which involved an agreement between New Zealand Defense Minister Andrew Little, and Fijian Minister for … Read more
Advertisement “Warm and constructive”: That’s how New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins wanted his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday to be remembered. Hipkins deployed the phrase at least eight times in a subsequent press conference with the New Zealand media. He was also keen to note that “the meeting was at no … Read more
Advertisement After months of mixed signals, Chris Hipkins will head to China at the end of June. A meeting between the New Zealand prime minister and Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, has yet to be officially confirmed, but this seems to be only a question of timing. Hipkins’ long-awaited visit to Beijing will come shortly before he attends July’s … Read more
Advertisement Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is blazing his way through New Zealand’s foreign policy. His fast-but-furious visit to Papua New Guinea this week – which saw Hipkins spend just 23 hours in Port Moresby, the capital – was the prime minister’s fourth such rapid international trip since he took office. But after two quick visits … Read more