China and New Zealand should become partners of mutual trust and address some specific differences through constructive dialogue, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his counterpart Winston Peters at a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday.

"The two sides should maintain a correct understanding of each other ... and further develop friendly cooperation and become partners who trust and support each other's achievements," Wang said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout.

"For some specific differences, the two sides could resolve them properly through constructive dialogue."

In a statement issued by the New Zealand side, Peters said that the discussions had included China's recent naval deployment to the Tasman Sea.

Peters told reporters after the meeting that he raised Wellington's concerns directly with Wang about the short notice and expected that these would be considered.

He said that Beijing did not give adequate notice of the live-fire naval drill beforehand, calling it a failure in the special relationship between China and New Zealand that began in 2008 with the signing of a free-trade agreement.

Peters, who is also New Zealand's deputy prime minister, is on a three-day visit to China - the first by a foreign minister from the country since March 2023.

"We placed on record our concern, and the expectation that we would have a better warning in the future," Peters told reporters, adding that Wang "took our concerns on board in our discussions".

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (second from right), and visiting New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters (second from left) at the bilateral meeting in Beijing on Wednesday. 

Jason Young, director of the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre, based at Victoria University of Wellington, noted that the meeting had given both nations an opportunity to articulate their stances on recent incidents.

This suggested that communication between Beijing and Wellington needed to be improved, he said.

"There is an expectation around mutual respect that requires more transparency from Beijing. The lesson drawn [by Wellington] appears to be that this needs to be expressed publicly."

Young described the timing of the Chinese drills as "unfortunate", saying that the exercises were likely to have overshadowed chances to explore more positive facets of the bilateral relationship.

Geoffrey Miller, a geopolitical analyst with Victoria University's Democracy Project, said the readouts suggested Wang and Peters went through a "relatively tough and frank conversation".

He added that Peters was unusually forthright when speaking to reporters about the Chinese warships.

In his meeting with Wang, Peters also expressed concerns over deals and agreements signed between China and the Cook Islands - a self-governing state that has a constitutional relationship with New Zealand - including cooperation on exploration and research of seabed minerals.

"We also discussed our strong relationships with Pacific countries, including New Zealand's special constitutional relationships with its realm partners, in particular the Cook Islands," Peters said in a statement.

He later told reporters that his country received more information from China on the deals than from the Cook Islands.

Wellington is concerned that the Cook Islands did not consult it before signing the comprehensive strategic partnership and other agreements with China this month. A Joint Centenary Declaration signed by New Zealand and the Cook Islands in 2001 committed the parties to "consult regularly on defence and security issues".

According to the foreign ministry readout, Wang said that China respected the traditional relations between New Zealand and the Pacific island countries.

In Miller's view, part of the problem is the wording of the 2001 declaration, which gave the Cook Islands the status of a "sovereign and independent state" while also calling for it to consult with New Zealand on foreign affairs matters.

"To some extent, China has been caught in the crossfire over a diplomatic problem that New Zealand itself had created by allowing relations between Winston Peters and Mark Brown [prime minister of the Cook Islands] to deteriorate and through the ambiguous wording of the 2001 agreement," Miller said.

Peters also met Vice-President Han Zheng and Liu Jianchao, head of the ruling Communist Party's International Department. His tour of Asia and the Middle East will include stops in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia and South Korea.

Wellington and Beijing have a robust trade relationship - China has been New Zealand's largest trading partner since 2017 and the bilateral trade volume stands at about NZ$38 billion (US$21.7 billion).

But security-wise, New Zealand has expressed concerns about China's growing influence in the Pacific Islands, a region both countries view as strategically important. New Zealand advocates for maintaining the Pacific as a "free and open" region.

Meanwhile, Beijing is concerned about Wellington's potential involvement in Pillar 2 of the Aukus security pact between Australia, Britain and the US, which focuses on cutting-edge defence technology such as artificial intelligence and hypersonic missiles.

Peters told reporters that China did not raise the issue at all during the meeting - probably because in Beijing's view it has already adequately conveyed its position, according to Miller.

"[China] did not want to add another difficult issue to an already busy meeting agenda," he said.

Other issues that were discussed included future trade opportunities, China's possible entry into the CPTPP trade agreement, trade in services negotiations based on a negative list approach, and issues about Ukraine and Gaza.

The ministers also agreed on the need for further dialogue, hinting that New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon may visit China this year - a welcome sign, Miller said.

It was notable that Luxon had not yet visited China, especially considering the economic relationship between the two countries and his extensive travel since taking office in November 2023, he added.

"It is to be hoped that Luxon will visit China this year to try and put a lid on the tensions that have emerged... Overall, the main outcome of the meeting between Peters and Wang seems to have been to 'agree to disagree' and to resolve to continue discussions," Miller said.

"It is imperative that de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy remain the focus in order to stop matters from getting out of hand."

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New Zealand says China has agreed to consider concerns about its recent military drills

China has agreed to consider concerns that its military did not give enough notice before staging live-fire exercises in the waters between New Zealand and Australia last week, the foreign minister of New Zealand said Wednesday.

The drills prompted passenger flights between the two countries to divert in midflight after Chinese naval vessels warned pilots they were flying above a live-fire exercise.

“I think it would be true to say that he took our concerns on board,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters said after meeting and having dinner with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in the Chinese capital.

Peters said he put the issue in the context of the close ties that the two countries have developed since 2008. China is the biggest export destination for New Zealand and Australia.

“We’re in the second decade of this arrangement, and this is a failure in it at this time, and we’d like to have it corrected in the future," he said. He added, “That is something which we believe is under consideration.”

Australia has complained more vociferously about the lack of notification. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she sought an explanation from China's Wang Yi when the two met in Johannesburg last Saturday following a gathering of foreign ministers from the Group of 20 nations.

At issue is how much in advance militaries should issue such warnings. China only gave “a couple of hours' notice,” New Zealand’s Defense Minister Judith Collins told Radio New Zealand, rather than the expected 12 to 24 hours. A longer lead time would give airlines time to plan alternate routes.

China's official Xinhua News Agency made no mention of the issue in an initial report on Peters' meeting earlier in the day with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson defended China's actions on Sunday, saying the drills were in compliance with international law and did not affect aviation safety.

Peters, who also is the deputy prime minister, is in the middle of an 11-day trip that began with stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. After Beijing, he is visiting Mongolia and South Korea before his return to New Zealand on Monday.

In his talks in Beijing, Peters said the return of President Donald Trump to the White House came up more than he had expected.

He didn't provide any details, but said that both sides agreed that "perhaps we should just wait and see what happens when the dust settles.”

Peters said he also explained the unique relationship his country has with Cook Islands, which signed a series of agreements with China earlier this month that have raised concern in New Zealand.

The government was angered when Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown refused to share the text of a draft cooperation agreement with China ahead of its signing.

Citizens of Cook Islands have New Zealand passports, and New Zealand helps the small Pacific nation with its military and foreign affairs. In return, the Cook Islands government is required to consult New Zealand on matters that could affect the latter.

“They need to understand the constitutional arrangement, which they said they did now,” Peters said of China.

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