There goes our independent foreign policy

Stuff reports:

Trade Minister Damien O’Connor has warned a parliamentary debate on whether Beijing is committing genocide in Xinjiang would damage trade with China.

This makes Neville Chamberlain look strong.

The Government is saying that the NZ Parliament should not even be allowed to debate whether a genocide is occuring, because it might damage our trade.

It’s one thing to say you don’t think what is happening is genocide. There is a case for and against whether the treatment of Uighurs reaches the level of genocide. But to say that the NZ Parliament should not even debate it, due to trade concerns, kills off any idea of us having an independent foreign policy.

UPDATE: Labour has managed to water down the parliamentary motion from genocide to “possible human rights abuses”. Beijing will be very pleased.