Hipkins passes diplomatic test with China's Xi

"I was able to re-register New Zealand's concerns and restate our position," - Chris Hipkins

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins' week-long trip to China centred on a meeting with China's President Xi Jinping, one of the world's most powerful men. 

Amid tense geostrategic conditions and with a trip to NATO in Europe looming, the stakes were sky high - but his diplomatic dance with the dragon was largely a success. 

The meeting with Xi took place late on Tuesday (NZ time), featuring the usual pleasantries and ceremonial handshaking. In opening statements ahead of their 40-minute behind-closed-doors chat, they spoke about the strength of the China-New Zealand relationship. 

"Our bilateral ties have continued to grow in a sound and steady manner. Amid the changing international landscape, our relationship has remained robust and strong," Xi said, his words translated. 

He said he always attached great importance to the relationship, described Hipkins' visit as "very meaningful", and said the international community was watching closely. 

Hipkins himself noted the milestone of 50 years of diplomatic relations, and said the meeting "builds on the foundations laid before me".

Read more: 

• Déjà vu for PM abroad as ministerial trouble brews back home
• PM on China visit: 'There is a huge market here for NZ products
• Hipkins meets Xi: behind the handshakes NZ walks increasingly fine line
• Nanaia Mahuta: China meeting was 'robust'
• PM having to find his diplomatic feet fast ahead of high-stakes China visit

RNZ Political Editor Jane Patterson - on the ground in Beijing - described it as a warm reception but noted the layout of the meeting: seated some distance from one another at a large table in the enormous Great Hall of the People on the edge of Tiananmen Square.

Afterwards, Hipkins described the meeting as "warm and constructive" and "at no point adversarial", but relatively high level.

He defended the short amount of time spent on more sensitive topics like China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims and the militarisation of the Pacific, saying there was a limit to the progress able to be made in the meeting's short timeframe. 

Uyghur Solidarity Aotearoa spokesperson Sam Vincent told RNZ he was left disappointed by the focus on the economy, and Hipkins had made it clear the genocide of the Uyghur people was not a concern for his government. 

"Chris Hipkins should have brought this up with him [Xi], and he also should have brought up the fact that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights last year wrote a detailed report about what's been happening and found that there may be crimes against humanity that may have been committed," Vincent said. 

The prime minister later revealed his meetings with China's Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji did have a greater focus on those stickier issues.

"It would be fair to say I didn't raise anything new ... but I was able to re-register New Zealand's concerns and restate our position, and that was acknowledged," he said. 

Li - who also shared dinner with Hipkins during the World Economic Forum event in Tianjin - praised him as a "young and capable statesman". 

New Zealand has long had to walk a fine line, balancing the security stance of traditional Western allies against the nearly 30 percent - worth $40b last year - of exports into Chinese markets. The US and Australia have been adopting  an increasingly hawkish stance amid the war in Ukraine - and China considered an implicit backer of Russia.

US President Joe Biden had dropped a diplomatic bombshell just ahead of Hipkins' trip when he called Xi a dictator - and Hipkins' refusal to follow suit ('no, and the form of government that China has is a matter for the Chinese people') drew international attention.

Hipkins was tight-lipped on whether that was raised during the Xi meeting, but tensions seemed much diminished compared to one in March between Foreign Affairs Ministers Nanaia Mahuta and Qin Gang.

The Australian newspaper had described that as an "epic haranguing" after she had pushed back on his "Wolf Warrior" approach. Mahuta disputed the characterisation - saying several times it was instead a "robust" discussion and a mature bilateral relationship in which such discussions could take place. 

She also rejected suggestions there was any relation to the postponement of her trip to Australia with senior Minister Andrew Little set down for this week, saying it was only changed due to scheduling issues. 

It remains unclear whether the schedule in question was Hipkins'. He would not have welcomed discussion of potential New Zealand involvement in the AUKUS security pact between Australia, the United States and the UK during his sit-down with Xi. 

Strategic studies expert Robert Ayson says Hipkins China trip achieved three things: boosting his profile in an election year; emphasising the trade relationship; and third in highlighting China as a legitimate international player and a partner to New Zealand in important areas like trade and climate change.

"We've seen the ... positive side of New Zealand's approach to China really highlighted here," he says. "I think the missteps have been happening in Wellington with some of Mr Hipkins' colleagues ... he's got through the visit okay, I think he's delivered the messages that he wanted to deliver.

"He clearly wanted to deliver a more upbeat approach on New Zealand's relationship with China. He's competing with [opposition leader] Chris Luxon for the idea - that 'who's going to bring home the bacon' in terms of recovering from recession - and that's, you know, a trade-led approach. And so in that sense, I think Mr Hipkins will feel satisfied."

Hipkins heads overseas again in just over a week to the NATO summit in Lithuania, a two-day gathering of some of the world's most powerful leaders - and another test of his diplomatic skills.

New Zealand's NATO relationship goes back more than 25 years, but has drawn closer in recent years as the military alliance looks to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, it also declared China  a security challenge for the first time last year, saying Beijing's ambitions and "coercive policies" were testing "interests, security and values".

New Zealand was represented at that summit by former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who used the opportunity to say China had become more assertive and willing to challenge rules and norms - prompting a fierce response from the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand.

Hipkins says his participation in this year's summit was not raised in his meetings with the three most powerful political figures in China, but they will no doubt they will be watching closely. 

In this week's Focus on Politics, Political Reporter Katie Scotcher analyses one of Prime Minister Chris Hipkins' first big overseas trips. 

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