Geoffrey Miller: Geopolitical Analyst on the conversation between Winston Peters and China's Wang Yi on the warships in the Tasman

Winston Peters has made it clear to China that we aren't happy with its handling of the warships the Tasman Sea. 

The Foreign Minister's been meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing. 

Peters says the pair talked about China's new deal with the Cook Islands and the Chinese Navy vessels, which have now entered Australia's exclusive economic zone. 

Geopolitical analyst Geoffrey Miller told Mike Hosking Peters doesn't appear to have held back. 

He says it appears to have been a fairly tough conversation, and a robust exchange of views, with Peters saying it was a "failure" that China didn't give more notice to New Zealand. 

Miller says China probably didn't want things to play out as they have, and reports from Chinese state media suggest it's keen for more "dialogue" in the future. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Update from China. Foreign Minister Winston Peters, of course, meeting
his counterpart overnight, had a word about the ships in
this part of the world. Our geopolitical analyst Jeffrey Miller's back. Well,
this's Jeffrey, very good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
I read the communicator that did the usual diplomatic dance,
didn't they at the end of the day, Am I right?
I don't know if you saw Seymour, yesterday's Deputy Prime minister.
He's been briefed on what we did. Militarily speaking, it's
the Australians whoppear to be sleep at the wheel.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, there's an awful lot going on, Mike. I think
when you look at mister Winston Peter's statements after this
meeting and reading between the lines, it looks like it
was a pretty tough conversation, a pretty robust exchange of
views with one ye and Winston Peters has said it
was a failure that the Chinese did not give more
notice to New Zealand. So it sounds like it was a,

(00:45):
as I say, a pretty tough encounter.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Which is all we can say. And if they want
to do it, they'll do it, because there's no international
laws being broken and they're in international waters. Is this,
in your view, a deterioration of relations or the new normal?

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Ookreat It is a difficult situation to be in, and
it's one I don't think news adn't want it to be,
and I don't think necessarily China necessarily wanted the relationship
to be at this point right now. That said, I
think it is helpful to have these robust discussions. I
think we're all better off when there is more dialogue.
And certainly the statements that came out and the characterizations

(01:21):
from Chinese state media as well, emphasize the need for
further dialogue in the future. Remember this visit by Winston
Peters to Beijing was also a set up visit for
Christopher Luxin to into Beijing later this year, and I
think that would be very welcome. We need more diplomacy,
more de escalation, and more dialogue.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
Couldn't agree with you more nice to have you appreciate it.
Jeffrey Jeffrey Miller, geopolitical analyst. For more from the Mic
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