Craig Rucker: Trump’s tariffs signal ‘new sheriff in town’ to China

When President Trump imposed tariffs in February, his decision was not received well by either the Chinese government or some in the Democrat party.

“This is not ‘America First,’” U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) wrote on X. “Tariffs are bad for business.”

John McLean: Key indicators

Inconvenient truths about the former New Zealand Prime Minister

Aotearoa is a strange and changeable lady. In her youth, she didn’t take herself too seriously. New Zealand satirists A. K. Grant and Tom Scott, in their superb early 80s mock history of New Zealand The Paua and the Glory: the story of New Zealand's rise to international insignificance, amusingly speculated on the origin of “Aotearoa” …without being cancelled. (Their thesis was that, on arrival of the first Polynesian canoe on New Zealand shores, one of the Tānes instructed one of the Wāhines, “Out eh Aroha”.)

Simon O'Connor: What was suspected, is now exposed

While the hacking of Parliament's computer systems by China does not surprise me, it is something we must take very seriously. Is this perhaps the wake-up call New Zealand needs?

Some may find it extraordinary to think that New Zealand’s largest trading partner thought it perfectly acceptable to hack into the heart of our democratic system - the computer servers of Parliament. That China has done so is as deeply worrying as it is symbolic. While this is the first time our intelligence services have acknowledged an attempt on our parliamentary computer systems by the Chinese Community Party (CCP), it is certainly not the first time Chinese state-sponsored cyber-attacks have occurred here in New Zealand. These attacks are frequent and wide in their application.

Simon O'Connor: Extraordinary blindness

A response to Helen Clark and Don Brash's outdated views on AUKUS, China, and New Zealand.

The recent opinion piece by Helen Clark and Dr Don Brash is extraordinary, and not in a good way (you can read here [paywalled unfortunately]). Like other former leaders writing on the China question, they are living in the past – drawing on old perspectives to address the very real global challenges of today. Yes, China is an important trading partner for New Zealand – our largest and most important, and we must do all we can to nurture this trading relationship. But simultaneously we need to acknowledge the Chinese Communist Party is also a challenge to the rule of law, democracy, and the international order both in the Pacific and here in New Zealand.