TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — New Zealand went to the polls on Saturday (Oct. 14) and produced a result that will see two conservative parties form a coalition government with possible support from a third party.
What, if anything, might this mean for Taiwan?
The National Party took about 39% of the vote, crushing the incumbent Labour Party who will leave government having received just under 27% support. National will form a government with the New Zealand ACT Party, which received 9%, with National leader Christoper Luxon serving as prime minister.
Luxon was asked if he would visit Taiwan if he became prime minister in 2022 and simply said “no.” China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner, and successive governments have shown a bipartisan consensus on the One China policy and informal relations with Taiwan.
When Luxon debated then Prime Minister Chris Hipkins in September, the only issue the pair agreed on was when they were asked how they would respond if China invaded Taiwan. Luxon said he agreed with Hipkins, who said it would be inappropriate and possibly damaging to speculate on the issue.
“There has been bipartisanship under successive governments and under successive parties in our approach to foreign affairs and to our relationships with our key partners between governments,” Luxon said.
ACT
In comparison to National, the ACT party has shown relatively more willingness to engage with Taiwan, and its leader David Seymour said that he would visit Taiwan if invited. “It’s not up to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to decide who can go to Taipei,” Seymour told RNZ News in 2022.
ACT leader David Seymour speaks next to his deputy Brooke van Velden on Sunday. (Reuters photo)
Meanwhile, ACT’s deputy leader Brooke van Velden visited Taiwan in May, alongside the party’s spokesperson for immigration and defense James McDowall. Following the trip, van Velden praised Taiwan’s democracy and the way it handled the pandemic.
ACT’s campaign largely focused on domestic governance issues and education, and it is unlikely its members would be granted portfolios related to foreign affairs. Pending coalition negotiations, it is still unclear how ministerial portfolios will be allocated.
Van Velden also beat National MP Simon O’Connor for an electorate seat, meaning O’Connor will not return to parliament. Along with van Velden herself, O’Connor was one of three co-chairs of a New Zealand-Taiwan parliamentary friendship group, a role which he will now step down from.
New Zealand First
A possible third coalition partner in the country’s new government is the nationalist-populist New Zealand First Party led by political veteran Winston Peters. The 78-year-old Peters brought his party back into parliament for the fourth time with just under 7% of the vote on Saturday and has not ruled out a coalition arrangement with National and ACT.
However, both National and ACT have repeatedly stated that they do not want to work with Peters if it can be avoided. As overseas votes are yet to be counted, it is still unclear if they will need to or not, but the slim majority they currently hold makes it a possibility.
Peters visited Taiwan in October 2022, two years after he served as New Zealand’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister. New Zealand’s foreign ministry stressed that the visit was not official and Peters was not representing the country.
During the visit, Peters met with President Tsai Ing-wen and likewise praised Taiwan’s democracy. “If there were more Taiwans would this world be a better place? And the answer is compellingly, irrefutably yes,” he said.
In 2020 Peters also praised Taiwan’s handling of the pandemic and advocated for the country’s observer status at the World Health Organization. He issued a sharp rebuke to China’s protests over his support, saying the Chinese ambassador to New Zealand should “listen to her master” in Beijing.
New Zealand’s new prime minister Christopher Luxon. (Reuters photo)
