What a stupid situation. Picture a huge shipment of top quality NZ lamb sitting on the docks in China and the buyers unable to lift it until the 'officials' in China grant access. One has to wonder where the problem lies. Is it stupid pedantic Chinese officials, with maybe a hint of corruption or is it New Zealand officials who have not crossed the 'T's and dotted the 'I's? Is it some plan on the part of various sector groups in China who have vested interests in NZ lamb NOT being landed in their country. Perhaps we have assumed too much about the 'Free Trade' agreement between our two countries and that in the end, China doesn't give a stuff about NZ farmers or rules. We in New Zealand after all are just a small blimp in the bottom of the South Pacific,' and China owes us nothing. Why should they? Our ties may be growing and we have all seen the 'photo-shots' of meetings between senior political figures where they state the 'new love' between China and NZ but perhaps we, should take a deeper look at where this is all going? Should we once again 'put all of our eggs' into one basket? I don't think so. I have the distinct impression that we are going back to the future. Remember when we relied on Britain and hell--- we had historic ties with that nation. We died in our thousands defending British 'interests' in three wars and what happened in the long run? They cut us lose when they joined the 'Common Market' in the 1970's, so why on earth would we expect the Chinese to show us any favours? If they can't get their officials to sort out what is a relatively easy issue or our officials lack real understanding of how this huge market operates, then let's take a hard look at the implications of this latest bureaucratic nightmare. Come-on trade officials on both sides---get your act together! MAYBE NZ NEEDS TO TREAD VERY CAREFULLY WITH BIG BROTHER CHINA!
No comments:
Post a Comment