Via The Australian:
The report by researcher Anne-Marie Brady, of the University of Canterbury, singled out a $100,000 donation last year by six Chinese donors who had attended a lunch with Mr English’s predecessor as prime minister, John Key, over the bid to change the New Zealand flag.
Professor Brady noted the Chinese donors want “the Union Jack removed from the New Zealand flag because it reminded them of the history of British imperialism in China”.
The report also addressed controversy over National MP Jian Yang, who allegedly taught Chinese spies English, according to media reports during the election campaign. Professor Brady claimed Mr Yang had a 15-year career in the People’s Liberation Army which he did not mention on his National Party online CV or the online CV provided for his profile when he was a lecturer at the University of Auckland.
He denied the spy claims, calling them defamatory and a smear campaign, but he has reviewed his New Zealand citizenship application to check he had declared his military background.
Professor Brady said New Zealand was of strategic interest to China for a number of reasons, including the responsibility Wellington maintains for defence and foreign affairs of the Pacific territories of the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau which “potentially means four votes for China” at international organisations.
New Zealand was a claimant state in Antarctica and one of the closest access points, an attraction because of Beijing’s long-term agenda for the polar region. The country also supplied nearly a quarter of China’s milk and China was the biggest investor in New Zealand’s diary industry. Trade between the two countries last year topped $23 billion.
Ms Ardern said she might pursue the issue through a review modelled on the one ordered by Malcolm Turnbull this year after ASIO warned the ALP and the Coalition about accepting donations from business figures close to the Chinese Communist Party.
The National Party has soared in popularity while Labour has plummeted, a new poll on the eve of the election shows.
NZ First has also fallen in the latest One News Colmar Brunton poll and is dangerously close to falling below the 5 per cent threshold.
In a complete reversal of momentum from the previous poll, National has arrested its fall and instead risen six points to 46 per cent. Labour is down seven points to 37 per cent.
Under the latest poll, NZ First is back to holding the balance of power, but only by the skin of its teeth.
Let’s hope the Kiwis aren’t that stupid.
