‘Most concerning, most unhelpful and most unacceptable’ - Winston Peters blasts China missile test and ‘disgrace’ of India FTA confusion
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is concerned the Chinese Government now thinks it is normal to test nuclear capable missiles in the Pacific.
Peters spoke to the Herald after returning from a weeklong trip to Singapore and Japan, which caused him to be out of the country during the test. Peters said the New Zealand Government has made clear its view that such tests are not normal.
Peters said China’s normalisation of the missile tests was a notable change from its last significant Pacific missile test in September 2024.
“It wasn’t new in the sense it happened two years ago,” Peters said. “The change was the expectation in China’s so-called defence that this is normal. We are saying, ‘no, it’s not, and please explain, it does not help our security our sense of peace and tranquility in the Pacific.’”
Foreign Minister Winston Peters welcomes his China counterpart, Wang Yi, to Wellington in 2024. Photo / Thomas Coughlan
Peters said the test was “most concerning, most unhelpful and most unacceptable”.
He said that the last time he spoke to China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, he queried the need for such missile tests in the Pacific.
“I asked, ‘what’s your purpose here? What’s your engagement? Are you trying to find out whether the strategic properties of missiles are different in the Southern Hemisphere than the Northern Hemisphere?’
“I’m still waiting for an answer,” Peters said.
Many observers have speculated that China’s missile test was a public show of anger at Australia and Fiji’s Ocean of Peace alliance, which was launched shortly before the test.
The Government has said it will explore joining the alliance.
Peters said these speculated causes for the test were “all legitimate in the absence of any logical reason for doing it”.
However, he said that “rushing to judgement” was “premature”.
Last week, the Government announced it would look at joining the Ocean of Peace alliance, which would be the first expansion in New Zealand’s alliances since the implosion of Anzus in 1986.
Peters said New Zealand had never believed in “glorious isolation”.
He said it made sense to look to our neighbours who had the same security concerns, had the same procurement programmes and had potential interoperability capacity.
Australia and New Zealand had spoken about deepening joint procurement of some military hardware before the Ocean of Peace announcement.
‘This is a disgrace’ - FTA concerns
Peters repeated his scepticism about the India Free Trade Agreement which was lauded over the weekend when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Auckland.
Peters has been a long-standing critic of the investment clause in the agreement.
This is a clause in the agreement which talks about US$20 billion ($34b) worth of private investment by New Zealand firms in India over 15 years.
The Indian side argue this figure is a promise by New Zealand, the New Zealand side argues the Government is only obliged to “promote” investment in India to hopefully reach the goal.
Text of chapter 9 of the deal from the MFAT website uses the “promote” wording, rather than wording that suggests the investment is a promise.
Nonetheless, Modi said three times over the weekend that the figure was a “firm commitment” from New Zealand, causing some embarrassment to the Government.
Peters said it was “breathtaking stuff” that Modi could visit New Zealand and there would still be confusion.
“This is 2026 for God’s sake. This is not the Baghdad Note. This is direct negotiations. Here we are in 2026 and he’s come and gone and we still don’t know what the bloody story is,” Peters said, using a racing metaphor.
“This is a disgrace,” he said.
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