Biden can reset with China

Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, March 5th, 2021 - 43 comments
Categories: China, Joe Biden, us politics - Tags:

I’m fully on record that New Zealand should resist China’s authoritarian ways, and U.S. President Biden should too. But it’s all in how he does it.

President Biden is clear there’s a new attitude from his CBS interview on February 7th saying that the two countries “need not have a conflict. But there’s going to be extreme competition. … I’m not going to do it the way Trump did,” he added. “We’re going to focus on international rules of the road.”

The two leaders have actually usefully engaged since, and you can get the tenor of the interaction between the two leaders in this BBC commentary.

China has  emerged from the early stages of the pandemic emboldened, with its factories and businesses outpacing those in the United States and Europe where the virus continues to hamper their economies – and their societies’ cohesiveness. While Chinese leaders are seeking to reset relationships with Washington after a tumultuous period under President Trump, they have continued to make hard-edged statements.

As long as China’s leaders remain convinced that all of their problems stem from Washington’s ill will, reform is unlikely. Today, they seem to completely buy into their own narrative that the United States is a petulant former superpower too proud to gracefully stand aside while China takes its rightful place in the world.

But as China finds itself at odds with nearly every country it surrounds and many others in the world – even those with very little U.S. influence – maybe its leaders will get the message. That depends if they are seeking more than cold instrumental rationality in foreign affairs.

I’m certainly not proposing Biden generate some pose of masterly inactivity indistinguishable from any other 78 year old guy having an afternoon nap. But there’s plenty of evidence that China is making all the moves to isolate itself with its aggressive and surly foreign policy without much help from the United States.

Besides listing the degree of offence China’s recent actions have caused with nearly every country it borders, China’s aggression to U.S. allies hasn’t needed much U.S. encouragement either. Australia’s fight with China over the former’s efforts to restrict foreign influence , Japan’s standoff with China over the Senkaku Islands, India’s actual battle with China over Ladkh – none of these were prompted by U.S. arrogance. Nor was the South China Sea dispute, which pits China against no fewer than five of its Southeast Asian neighbours.

Beyond its own immediate sphere, China is now also arguing with European countries about human rights, with Latin American countries about illegal fishing, and with African countries over development debts. Whether or not the Chinese central leadership ever wakes up to the fact that these problems are not the doing of the United States but are in fact because China’s government is just shit to deal with, well, that’s kinda immaterial. Indeed the grim anti-United States forebodings of John Pilger’s 2016 The Coming War On China never worked out even under Trump. Instead it looks like the real China story is being told – by multiple countries on multiple continents.

President Biden doesn’t have to go too hard at them when China can’t rise when it’s Chinese belligerence that destroys the chance of allies to form. Nearly all of the countries that surround China – and particularly those mentioned above – have good reason to engage with China solely on a mercantilist basis. There’s not much need for the United States to step in and try and solve other countries’ China problems. It is quite likely that a few years of tough love requiring aggrieved countries to stand up for themselves will form new communities of international interest all by themselves. Covid responses will also push different cross-national alliances over the next few years too.

Biden has already differentiated himself from Trump’s ineffective bellicosity. He’s got more on his plate than he needs domestically without generating grief with Xi Jinping. Also, Xi himself has only two years to work with Biden once the U.S. electioneering kicks in.

The more interesting question between China and the United States is: what is Vice President Kamala Harris’s position on Xi Jinping? We’ve less than two years to figure that one.

43 comments on “Biden can reset with China ”

  1. RedLogix 1

    Biden sent a crystal clear message to Beijing when he appointed Katherine Tai as his Trade Negotiation czar. Although it's too soon to know exactly what her impact will be, we know two important things about her.

    One is that she has relatively little experience as a trade deal negotiator. Nor does she have the decades of experience in leading large teams and building major deals her predecessor Lighthizer had. Rather her background is as a trade lawyer. Expect to see the US trade machine become a lot more aggressive in pursuing legal remedies under her guidance.

    Secondly – while born and educated in the US, she is ethnically Taiwanese. This may not feel very important to us here in NZ, but in Beijing – think sound of emergency dive klaxons.

  2. Populuxe1 2

    There’s not much need for the United States to step in and try and solve other countries’ China problems. It is quite likely that a few years of tough love requiring aggrieved countries to stand up for themselves will form new communities of international interest all by themselves.

    Are they all going to chip in for an aircraft carrier? Even if all the countries affected by China's Nine Dash Line combined their navies it still wouldn't offer a credible counter to a rapidly expanding PLAN. Vietnam has a GDP of 261.9 billion USD and a defense budget of 4.6 billion USD versus China's GDP of 14.34 trillion USD and a defense budget between 178 and 261 billion USD. Or do you expect half of Asia to quietly withdraw from the NPT and enter an arms race?

    • RedLogix 2.1

      It's a reasonable question … individually the nations of SE Asia don't stack up on paper against China.

      But collectively SE Asia, including Japan, India and Australia amount to a very substantial economic bloc, and more importantly one with almost all the strategic and geographic advantages.

      • Populuxe1 2.1.1

        Most of the SEA nations don't trust each other. Duterte can't make up his mind if he's friends with China or not. SEA hates Japan for obvious reasons. It's all India can do to not go to war with China at the moment and no shared strategic interests with SEA. And if you're involving Australia, who has it's own territorial and strategic beefs with Indonesia, there is no reasonable excuse to exclude the US and its extant defense agreements. Guam is a lot closer to China than Australia is.

        • RedLogix 2.1.1.1

          You might enjoy this really well done backgrounder to SE Asian geopolitical history – while I agree with you that right now SE Asia has immediate issues like Duterte, in the medium to longer term I'd argue that a fear of China's expansionist ambitions would be the greater force:

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVXb-4Ufl3s

          The young guy who does this channel has a huge amount of respect from me.

          • Populuxe1 2.1.1.1.1

            Maphilindo does rather typify why I don't see SAE getting it's crap together any time soon. Kennedy actually encouraged it in the 1960s, when they were making moves in that direction, as a bulwark against domino theory. Malaysia won't soon forget that the Philippines and Indonesia tried to use Maphilindo to prevent the formation of Malaysia, Malaysia and Indonesia see themselves as independent regional powers, The Philippines is terrified of what would happen in Mindinao if it was part of a Muslim superstate, and all of them have ongoing competing territorial claims.

            • RedLogix 2.1.1.1.1.1

              Think of Europe as a parallel example – every time Germany becomes powerful enough to dominate the rest of Europe, all of the other states set aside their bickering and differences to confront Germany and take it down.

              It's an old cycle that the EU was designed to break.

    • Stuart Munro 2.2

      They don't need aircraft carriers – they're all within strike range of China and/or disputed borders like the Sprattleys/Senkoku etc.

      Both Korea and Japan have been expanding their navies for a decade or so, partly with an eye on China, and partly North Korea.

      Vietnam is not China's objective – it's more an expansion of their zone of influence than a direct military effort they have in mind.

      The US will likely wait till they overextend, then punish them with sanctions – much as they punished Russian aggression in the Ukraine.

      • Populuxe1 2.2.1

        China has more and nastier things than the SAE to strike back with, and both Japan and Korea have their own agendas which have as much to do with nationalism as they do North Korea and China. I can't see anyone going to war over the Sprattleys, and both Japan and Korea still rely on the US as their nuclear deterrent. As for it being an expansion of China's zone of influence, with that also comes control of vital resources like fisheries and trade routes, vital to the survival of small nations.

  3. RedLogix 3

    Just as an aside I'm a bit dubious about Pilger's claim that 'the USA has China surrounded by 400 bases'.

    A quick search suggests that the total number of US overseas bases is around 800, and given the large majority of them are in Europe, the ME, and Africa – the idea that the balance of bases, mostly in Japan and Sth Korea that date back to WW2, are somehow designed to 'surround' China is a theatrical claim at best.

    Besides China has borders with 14 nations, including Russia, Nth Korea and Vietnam for example, many of which quite explicitly do not have US bases.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_military_bases#/media/File:American_bases_worldwide.svg

    And we shouldn't be too overawed by what a base might constitute; given that the US overseas total troop deployment is at it's lowest since the 1920's and is on course to decrease even further, the average 'base' might have barely a few hundred service people stationed.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 3.1

      Another relevant link, again from Wikipedia – what a great public resource/service.

      The military of the United States is deployed in more than 150 countries around the world, with more than 160,000 of its active-duty personnel stationed outside the United States and its territories.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_deployments

      160,000 active personnel / 800 overseas bases = 200 per base (average), so (as you say), not huge, although maybe US personnel are supplemented by trusted locals in some cases?

      • RedLogix 3.1.1

        Another good reference:

        The number of active-duty U.S. military troops stationed overseas has dipped below 200,000 for the first time in at least 60 years. The decline, reflecting a broader one in active-duty U.S. forces, has occurred in multiple countries – including South Korea, which has become a focus of attention amid escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea.

        And every source I'm looking at suggests that the large majority of troop deployments are in Europe and the ME. The only nation with large numbers in Asia is really Japan, and if you set that aside, then Pilger's implication that 'China is surrounded by vast numbers of huge and threatening US bases all armed to the teeth and threatening imminent destruction' is kind of ludicrous.

        Indeed as I've pointed out numerous times the default security guarantee that the US has provided globally since the end of WW2, is in fact the very basis on which China was able to engage the modern world in it's huge economic and trade expansion over the past four decades.

        Now of course as the numbers suggest, the US is pulling back from this stance (all the reflexive anti-US types here can take a moment to cheer this) – the question that no-one wants to answer is, who exactly will provide the security and stability necessary for a global economy to function? Because it won't be the pixies.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 3.1.1.1

          …the question that no-one wants to answer is, who exactly will provide the security and stability necessary for a global economy to function?

          Surely global security and stability will be just some of the many sustainable conditions stemming from the hyper-energisation of civilisation. Have a little faith.

        • Pierre 3.1.1.2

          I would note that the workers on the sharp end of western imperialism probably don't consider 'US security guarantees' as reassuring as you do.

          Meanwhile the People's Republic is committed to a multi-polar order and cooperation with the global south. See this article in the Morning Star:

          China is a politically independent country and a Third World power. Unlike Europe, Japan and the Anglosphere, China can’t be told what to do; it won’t sacrifice the interests of its people for the sake of helping the US maintain the “post-war liberal order” — a system of international relations that primarily serves the US.

          As a developing country, China is pushing for an end to hegemony and for a multipolar world in which the sovereignty of all countries is respected. As a non-white power that has constructed its own path to progress and prosperity, China is helping to destroy the ideology of white supremacy so intimately bound up with the imperialist world system.

          While the 92 million people in the Chinese Communist Party make their own mistakes, it makes no sense to me that anyone on the left should consider the world's leading socialist country as some kind of… malign enemy.

          • RedLogix 3.1.1.2.1

            a system of international relations that primarily serves the US.

            Two points.

            From a pure economic point of view the US fraction of GDP involved with trade is rather small. If you set aside their trade within NAFTA, it becomes less than 5%. The reality for North America is that the rest of the world could sink beneath the waves tomorrow and aside from a few specialised metals and odds and ends they'd barely notice.

            Prior to WW2 if you wanted to trade you had to build a navy or army to provide the necessary security. After WW2 it's been the US Navy that has provided this security for everyone by default. That includes the Chinese. The truly idiotic thing is that people who've grown up in this era, where freighters can sail around the world from any port to any other with little hinderance, take this extraordinary benefit – utterly for granted.

            The reality is the exact opposite of your claim, far from getting much benefit from the system they created, since the end of the Cold War the US has gotten rather little from it. While at the same time the rest of the world has demonstrably benefited enormously – human progress and development extending across continents and nations as never seen before in all of our history.

            Yet from Clinton onward, no President has fully, intelligently engaged with this global liberal trade order – other than on an ad-hoc reactive basis to events. The whole system has been running on inertia with very little in the way of fresh principle or policy to guide it for almost three decades now.

            And we've reached the point where the US post-Trump is really only interested in a handful of free trade agreements, Mexico, Sth Korea, Japan, Canada and the UK. The Five Eye nations will remain close allies – and with some exceptions like Taiwan, the rest of the world is on it's own. They simply don't care much any more. This should make reflexive anti-US bigots like yourself very happy.

            China is helping to destroy the ideology of white supremacy so intimately bound up with the imperialist world system.

            As soon as I see racist provocation like this I know I'm reading a propaganda piece. Dismissed.

            • Subliminal 3.1.1.2.1.1

              As soon as I see racist provocation like this I know I'm reading a propaganda piece. Dismissed.

              Did this hit a nerve then? Is it really necessary to quote the screes of evidence that show the whole of European colonial expansion to be based on this premise. How else can you view a war on Iraq based on lies in any other light? And this is but one example. A good history can be got here from an American Indian with a world perspective but a focus at the time of writing on the upcoming war on Iraq. Its a longish read but it certainly raises the question of who are the real victims of propaganda

              • RedLogix

                Is it really necessary to quote the screes of evidence that show the whole of European colonial expansion to be based on this premise.

                The era of colonial expansion came to an end 70 years ago with WW2. It was based – like all the empires of history (including numerous Chinese ones) on the necessity to expand territory in order to reliably access more energy and resources. While all conquerors tend to regard themselves in an unjustified heroic light, and the global dominance of European colonisation for 400 odd years was no exception, it's scarcely the fundamental motive.

                How else can you view a war on Iraq based on lies in any other light?

                And Xi Xinping's repeated commitments to absorb Taiwan are exactly what? It's been a fully independent nation since 1949 and much of China's massive military build up is clearly intended to force the issue by invasion.

                Take your hypocritical mewlings elsewhere.

                • Drowsy M. Kram

                  Take your hypocritical mewlings elsewhere.

                  Quite unpleasant, and unnecessary imho. Would it be fair to characterise your response to Subliminal's question about the war on Iraq as 'Whataboutism'?

                  If we’re being honest, we’re all guilty of whataboutism. It’s often a knee-jerk response or a last-resort defense when we’ve got no good way to answer a criticism or charge. It’s also a pretty good way to shift the attention off your mistake and onto your accuser.

                  • RedLogix

                    The invasion of Iraq was almost 20 years ago, and is now widely regarded in the West as a terrible mistake made in the crazy aftermath of 911.

                    The CCP's open aggression against Taiwan is happening right now, with military aircraft threatening incursions on an almost daily basis. And far from being considered a mistake – the CCP leadership and their state controlled media are whole heartedly embracing the prospect.

                    Using 'whataboutism' as a figleaf to deflect from the rankest imaginable hypocrisy is a complete fail.

                    • Drowsy M. Kram

                      Subliminal asked you a question, and your response did not address their question, imho. You didn't like my question about whether your response could be characterised as 'Whataboutism' and, intriguingly, your response ("a complete fail") did not address my question. Others can make up their own minds about who is deflecting here.

                      Your repeated characterisation of Subliminal's brief (and only) comment @3.1.1.2.1.1 as hypocritical ("your hypocritical mewlings"; "the rankest imaginable hypocrisy") seems OTT, again imho.

                    • RedLogix

                      Sublimal's very question on Iraq is a perfect example of the 'whataboutitism' that you object to.

                      Take it up with them if it’s so important to you.

                    • Subliminal []

                      You made a statement about propaganda that is demonstrably false. Iraq proves it and no amount of "it was a mistake" can change that. If you read the linked article above you would find many examples of "oh it was a mistake" with the expectation that that can move things along then. Do you not ever think about the mayhem and blood and trauma these "mistakes" cause? It isnt possible to "just move on" and you say its all 20 years ago except that its also right now, every day in Iraq because all their clean water and sanitation was obliterated and all they get every day is more bombs. Your whole attitude is one of superiority

                    • Drowsy M. Kram

                      Sublimal's very question on Iraq is a perfect example of the 'whataboutitism' that you object to.

                      Well you could have said that, instead of choosing to fling this shit: "your hypocritical mewlings"; "the rankest imaginable hypocrisy". Up to you, of course.

                      Some might perceive your retrospective 'whataboutism' critique of Subliminal's question (about the Iraq war being based in lies) to be a tad hypocritical, given that your reply didn't mention Iraq at all.

                      And it's true that I see no merit in 'whataboutism'; whatabout you?

                    • RedLogix

                      @DMK
                      given that your reply didn't mention Iraq at all.

                      That would be where I didn't say this then?

                      "The invasion of Iraq was almost 20 years ago, and is now widely regarded in the West as a terrible mistake made in the crazy aftermath of 911."

                    • RedLogix

                      @Subliminal

                      You claimed that the European colonial era was "the whole of European colonial expansion to be based on this premise" of 'white supremacy'. This is little more than a cynical ploy, an exploitation of intellectually faddish and bankrupt 'critical theories' I personally deplore in the extreme.

                      The most cursory scan of history is littered with empires. Quite a few of them Chinese in origin.

                      The basic motivation for all of them was little to do with any sense of racial or cultural supremacy (even if this was often invoked as justification after the fact) – and everything to do with the pre-Industrial era necessity to expand your territory in order to reliably access more energy and resources than your homeland could sustain.

                    • Subliminal []

                      I take it youve never read any peoples histories then. Only those written from the top looking down. Two I would suggest areThe Many Headed Hydra by Peter Linebaugh and The world Turned Upside Down by Christopher Hill. Also, anything by Ward Churchil who is the author of the above article. The colour hierachy took a while to develop fully but it is impossible to look at the American Indian genocide and the treatment of India without acknowledging white supremacy. It took a while but the British owned the African slave trade by the mid 1700s. To believe that the treatment of the Aborigines in Australia arose from anything else is absurd and it can still be found in the British promotion of hatred against Chinese in the slaughter of communists in Indonesia in the 60s:

                      One of the more successful things which the West wished on to the non-communist politicians in Indonesia was to transfer the whole idea of communism onto the Chinese minority in Indonesia. It turned it into an ethnic thing. It is a terrible thing to have done to incite the Indonesians to rise and slaughter the Chinese

                      The world looks different from the bottom looking up

                    • RedLogix

                      You're the native expert on China here – how about enlightening us on all the terrible aspects of their history? Because I would do a really bad job of it if I tried.

                      And as for your nice reading list – got a recent one from a Uighur or Tibetan author? An upside down one that is.

                    • Subliminal []

                      First, you could get a less hysterical view of Tibet from a man, Chas Freeman, who spent a large part of the 80s as US ambassador to China. He talks about Tibet and Tiananmen from about 25 mins. There is much of interest prior to then on Taiwan and the relationship between China and the USA built up during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. There is also admittance of successsful CIA involvement in Tibet, financial payments to the Dalai Lama and persuasion to trek out to Dharamsala in India.

                      Second, from a bottom up perspective it would seem obvious that a Theocracy led by celibate priests is not going to be much fun for a lot of the boys conscripted from their peasant homes. We understand the dangers posed by children in the care of celibate Catholic priests so what magical property does Buddhism possess that blinds you to the same dangers in a Tibetan monastery? If you want more information on what Tibet was really like, rather than the Shangri-la portrayed in movies such as Seven Years in Tibet you could start here. It was fuedal, and heavily taxed, with slaves and serfs. Tibetan peasants have expressed a desire to have the Dalai Lama back but not the old system.

                      On Uighurs, the million in concentration camps story is still traceable to a single man Adrian Zenz who is a fundamentalist Christian of the same sort as Mike Pompeo. He has publicly stated that he is on a mission to destroy China. New Zealand introduced a law under urgency to deal with extremists from jihad organisations. France has the worlds largest problem with returning jihadis and has also introduced laws to deal with returning jihadis as well as re-education camps. It is internationally recognised that China also has a large problem with returning Uighur jihadis and has experienced a level of internal terrorism associated with returning jihadis on a level similar to France. So China also, like France and New Zealand, has laws relating to returning jihadis and like France has re education camps.

                    • Drowsy M. Kram

                      RL @3:50 pm.

                      @DMK
                      given that your reply didn't mention Iraq at all.

                      That would be where I didn't say this then?

                      "The invasion of Iraq was almost 20 years ago, and is now widely regarded in the West as a terrible mistake made in the crazy aftermath of 911."

                      I really don't understand you at all RL.

                      I'm going to be as clear as possible, and if you still choose to misunderstand me or continue with your well-worn fabrication routine then that's entirely on you.

                      I hope that we can agree that Subliminal's first comment (a reply to you) @3.1.1.2.1.1 (12:58 pm) asked this question:

                      How else can you view a war on Iraq based on lies in any other light?

                      And I hope we can agree that your reply @1:14 pm included this 'answer' to Subliminal's question (which you had quoted):

                      And Xi Xinping's repeated commitments to absorb Taiwan are exactly what? It's been a fully independent nation since 1949 and much of China's massive military build up is clearly intended to force the issue by invasion.

                      And I hope we can agree that your answer to Subliminal's question about Iraq made no mention of Iraq – zip; nada.

                      And, finally, I hope we can agree that your reply (to Subliminal's question about the war on Iraq being based on lies):

                      And Xi Xinping's repeated commitments to absorb Taiwan are exactly what? It's been a fully independent nation since 1949 and much of China's massive military build up is clearly intended to force the issue by invasion.

                      is textbook 'whataboutism' – textbook.

                      Tbh, it was the ‘tone’ of your comment that I found most offensive.

                      Take your hypocritical mewlings elsewhere.

                    • RedLogix

                      Still waiting for you to address Sublimal's classic textbook whataboutitism on Iraq. I merely served him back his own tactic.

                      As for the tone policing – if you don't understand the deeply manipulative and cynical nature of the water army yet, you really haven't been paying attention.

                    • Drowsy M. Kram

                      Still waiting for you to address Sublimal's classic textbook whataboutitism on Iraq. I merely served him back his own tactic.

                      When it comes to 'whataboutism', you and Subliminal appear to be equal partners in 'crime'. Subliminal, however, has the edge when it comes to common courtesy; maybe they hit a nerve.

                      And I’ll admit to being a bit puzzled about your effort @3:50 pm to fabricate the idea that your reply @1:14 pm had mentioned Iraq – bad form RL, bad form.

                    • RedLogix

                      It (Tibet) was fuedal, and heavily taxed, with slaves and serfs.

                      Oh fair enough, but so were most other cultures in the world when the Europeans first colonised them hundreds of years back. (As was China itself in that era.)

                      But of course you ascribe all of that to 'white supremacy', and I guess if we're going to be consistent, I get to call the PRC colonisation of Tibet as motivated by 'Han supremacy'. And all this occurring in our lifetimes, not hundreds of years ago.

                      As for Adrian Zenz being the sole source of the fake story on Xinjiang – that’s excellent news. In that case there would be absolutely no objection to the PRC opening the region up to international journalists and investigators to prove the PRC innocent of the allegations. Surely not?

                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Zenz

                    • Subliminal []

                      Or Adrian Zenz Is an extreme far right Christian fundamentalist who believes that armageeddon is a necessary condition for the rapture and his ascension to heaven. As stated above, he is on the public record as saying he is on a mission from god to destroy China.

                      On Tibet, a good long read by Anna Louise Strong on the ground in Tibet describes the experience of serfs before Chinese intervention and just after the rebellion. A chapter or the whole book

                • Subliminal

                  Right. So nothing to sdd to the war on Iraq except a classic redirection. Taiwan has not been destroyed and hence nobody has died. Iraq has been destroyed with millions dead (more than 1) and kept as a failed state by a US force that has been asked to leave by the recognised government of Iraq. All this has ocurred after your arbitrary decision that ended colonialism after WW2. Again I ask, how do you explain Iraq if not on an ideology of superiority?

                  • RedLogix

                    You're the one who started the deflection with Iraq, an event I personally protested against at the time (legally and I didn't get arrested or shot for doing so) – and I have no desire or intention of defending it. It was a massive mistake made in the aftermath of 911 and now widely condemned in the West.

                    Taiwan has not been destroyed and hence nobody has died.

                    So you are assuring us that the CCP leadership has no intention of 'absorbing' this independent state as they have done with so many others?

                    And that they haven't explicitly and repeatedly threatened military invasion to achieve this end?

                    You're in no position to lecture anyone on 'moral superiority'.

                    • Subliminal

                      I was under the assunption that the absorption rate had not yet gone beyond one and that was far longer ago than 20 years. Longer ago even than Vietnam. About the time of Korea I believe and have you ever read any descriptions of the devastation that was dealt to Korea. Planes were returning from sorties with their bombs still on board because they couldn't find anything to drop them on!! Think I'd rather have been in Tibet at the time!

                    • RedLogix

                      I'll leave it to DMK to respond to your deflections and 'whataboutitism' here. He's the one who gets all concerned about them.

                    • Subliminal []

                      Whataboutism

                      Whataboutism cannot be used as a “get out of jail card” for hypocrites and reprobates who demand to limit the boundaries of a debate. If we are to understand international relations we can never forget context and nuance. For those chauvinists who casually use the term wumao we must stress that defaming the speaker does not defame the argument.

                      Most of all though, we need a term to describe the scoundrel, the incompetent, the lazy and the indoctrinated who so flippantly use these two terms.

                    • Subliminal

                      Again, from Chas Freeman, someone with an actual grip on reality, who has lived in both Taipei and Beijing, has an affection for Taiwanese even if that affection is not reciprocated due to the shifting nature of US politics, speaks both Taiwanese and Mandarin fluently and has spent a large number of years as a US diplomat

                      To normalize relations with Beijing, successive U.S. presidents gave specific commitments in three carefully negotiated joint communiqués. These documents – issued in 1972, 1979, and 1982 – are the foundation of Sino-American relations. In them, the U.S. government promised that it would no longer maintain official relations with Taipei, that it would have no troops and military installations on the island, and that it would sell only carefully selected defensive weapons to Taiwan on a restrained basis. In the third communiqué, the United States agreed to limit the quality and reduce the quantity of its arms sales to Taiwan.

                      Over the succeeding decades, Washington has progressively eroded or set aside every one of these strictures. Members of the U.S. Cabinet now meet with Taiwan officials and travel to Taiwan. There they are supported by a newly constructed $250 million quasi-embassy guarded by U.S. marines. The United States has returned to Cold War-style championing of Taipei’s diplomatic relations with third countries, punishing those that switch relations to Beijing. There are reports that there are once again American military personnel in Taiwan teaching its armed forces how to conduct operations against the mainland. Taiwan has reemerged as a major purchaser of U.S. weaponry. On November 12, 2020 (nine days after the U.S. presidential election made his boss a lame duck), Secretary of State Mike Pompeo completed the trashing of the “one-China” stipulation by declaring (inaccurately) that “Taiwan has not been part of China.”

                  • Ad

                    Nice article from Chas Freeman there on Taiwan. Cheers.

  4. barry 4

    Where on earth did you get the idea that China blames all its foreign disagreements on the US?

    Why does Biden want to base his relationship with China on "extreme competition"? Perhaps he could try a little "moderate cooperation".

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    2 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    8 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    9 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    23 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
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