China free trade deal. Your thoughts?

[YellowDog]

So lets not trade with America for all their wrong doings, invading Countries at will, threatening to invade other countries who don't toe the line or even Australia for the way they have treated the Aborigines...

I mean America refused Trade Agreements just because we refused to let 1 nucleur warship spend a few days here...

Looks like China is trying to improve things and I don't consider trading with them means NZ is supporting what China does and if they didn't trade with China for reasons of wrong do you think it will affect China...nop...I say better to trade with them to support New Zealand...at the end of the day the trade is with Chinese business who will employe more people etc and also help make their lives a wee bit better...

New Zealand is considered a neutral nation and respected by most of the world so New Zealand, by trading with China may be a positive...

Grahame - Your point is highly valid and I accept what you say, particularly about the Yanks.

Theoretically, the Western NZ culture will have more potential 'deal busting' fundamental cultural issues with China than it would with America.

I noticed how Helen Clark embarrassingly avoided the Dalai Llama's visit a few months back. IMO - NZ would be forever walking on glass.

[YellowDog]

Maybe, just maybe, we will be in a better position to influence a better out come for Tibet by being in the free trade agreement, than shouting from the sidelines.
Just a thought. Most of us listen to our close colleagues more than random folk on the street. NZ could be the country that goes down in history as the freedom makers.

NZ's influence over China would be ZIP. It is more likely to be the other way around.

I read an aricle about the huge increase in Chinese organs being sold on the international market. Apparently since they realised that human organs are big business, the numbers sentenced to the death penalty has multiplied many times over.

Mr Dipshit would be really happy if NZ introduced the death penalty for bike thiefs and then paid 50% of the sale of donated organs to help buy a new bike!

[xwhatsit]

It's really very exciting. Dropping the tariffs is just one small thing -- the bigger boost will be how NZ is promoted inside China now. Go to NZ for a good British-style education; go to NZ for niche technical stuff; go to NZ for scientific research; go to NZ for aviation/nautical expertise etc.

Can only mean good things. It's funny how warped our perspective is in western countries. Did you know that Han Chinese is the single biggest ethnicity in the whole world? And that Mandarin is the world's most spoken language (it has almost triple the amount of speakers that English has). When viewed as a single culture, it's easily the largest popular culture in the world. You might think America has a powerful global popular culture, but it pales into insignificance compared to China.

China simply hasn't cared about the rest of the world for thousands of years. Now as it's realising it isn't the centre of the world (Zhongguo (中國) -> Middle Kingdom), and that there are other countries lurking around the fringes, little places like NZ are eventually going to start looking towards China as the parent country/culture/civilisation instead of Britain/USA. We can already see such a shift starting to form in younger generations, especially those who are more educated.

So the FTA is inevitable, and it's nice to get it as early as possible (and before any other country!) so we can reap the benefits for a longer period of time.

[Brett]

I am undecided at this stage. Will wait and see. many negatives and positives to be had.

[steved]

It will turn us more into an exporter of dairy and less into a exporter of fridges.

Inevitable anyway.

[Finn]

We need all the help we can get. The FTA with the chinkers is good. How can it not be? There is so much of their shit in NZ, it's time we sold some of our shit to them. Fuck, we even have a chain of shops dedicated to selling their shit (The Warehouse).

Don't be stupid, it's a good thing.

[Jantar]

Think about that in terms of buying a bike from a dealer:
The dealer says "here, come invest your money in this bike. This is how it will perform for you. If it doesn't, I give you this warrantee which means that I will make things right for you at my cost if it does not perform in the manner I have described". It's not much different to that.
I have actually seen one business agreement myself in NZ that operates that way in which one party agreed to operate hydro canal within certain boundaries so a second party could run a business using the canal. If those boundaries were breached the first party would pay the second party for any lost business.

Not a valid comparison at all. Its like buying a bike from a dealer on the basis that fuel costs a certain amount. If the price of fuel goes up the dealer will pay the difference.

[BAD DAD]

I hope that the economic benefits that many are expecting are not off-set by costs relating to personal freedoms that we generally take for granted (freedom of speech being only one). Chinese leadership seems to be overly sensitive to critical comment on issues and I worry that such a major trading partner could have too much influence, more than we will feel comfortable with.

Party pooper eh?

[Skyryder]

Labour has lost my vote.

Skyryder

[Chrislost]

please tell me that this is just the news being wrong
http://msn.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/...ectid=10502653

[Citroenjunkie]

What I want to know is will the price of GN250's come down now? Or even better will the quality go up? If that was possible!

Just a rather simple question. Isn't it rather presumptious of New Zealanders to try to dictate to the most populous nation in the world how to run their country? I don't remember a Chinese delagation picketing in Auckland about the 'Foreshore and sea bed issue' or the 'Bradford ban the bash' law.

Why don't we accept that we are very small fish in an immense pond and be greatful for the whole handful of food flung in our direction, or do we really want to be American and dictate how the whole of mankind will live?

[Conquiztador]

National wtf,there hasnt been a National party since this guy,say what you will $ wise he was the best thing since sliced bread for me,in no way the best thing for the country but in that respect we havent really moved on much.Bet he has a right laugh at this place now.

Marlon Brando been in NZ politics????

[homer]

This is just the opinion of one young gal, but I think this smells like a load of fuckin' bullshite. She did this so damn sneakily, the public knows sweet f.a., and despite all the protests about what she's doing and China in general right now, she's going on and doing it anyway. I think we should really see what the civilians think - pro or against this trade deal?

But then I'll add, I have two Chinese students living with me, and if they're any representation of what China is like as a super power, the country will kill themselves out in twenty years anyway. Throw bugs at them, open windows, or take away their icecream and you're dealing with five year olds.

And that is my lack of respect of at least Helen, the agreement, and the guys I live with, as well as China's general policies.

Yeah i have to agree
just means , while we get told to buy nz products , now will move more freely out of nz . Then we will get more shit coming in to nz , as well as workers
so its all fucken lose lose
on top of that ,now we wil have more competion for jobs , so yet again the gov are going to keep pushing wages down .

[Swoop]

National wtf,there hasnt been a National party since this guy...

You must be joking! That moron shackled this country. Where is he buried, I need a piss.

They'll be wanting our offshore oil & minerals next....

Silly boy. Haven't you learnt anything from the treaty of waitangi?

and an influx of non-english speaking, low-cost workers, among other things...

This is an interesting area. One of the skills on the list is "electricians".
To become registered to perform electrical work, you need to sit and pass exams... in english.
I wonder how this one will pan out.

[homer]

What I want to know is will the price of GN250's come down now? Or even better will the quality go up? If that was possible!

Just a rather simple question. Isn't it rather presumptious of New Zealanders to try to dictate to the most populous nation in the world how to run their country? I don't remember a Chinese delagation picketing in Auckland about the 'Foreshore and sea bed issue' or the 'Bradford ban the bash' law.

Why don't we accept that we are very small fish in an immense pond and be greatful for the whole handful of food flung in our direction, or do we really want to be American and dictate how the whole of mankind will live?

It wont come down in price ,it will go up if anything , what about the fuckers that take there companys over to china for the cheep labour , we still have to pay the same dollar for there stuff