QotD: Has NZ has been accepting economic coercion?

"Generally, if you find yourself over-exposed to someone else (some person, some business, some country), and especially one of questionable character, the prudent thing to do is to gradually reduce your exposure, diversify your risks, and regain your (perceived) freedom to act in accord with your values. But when it comes to the People's Repuplic of China (PRC), prevailing opinion – ministerial speeches, taxpayer-funded lobby groups, and so on – seems to be that we should double-down, increasing our exposure to a country that they know to be an international thug and bully...
    "But we’ve allowed a couple of industries ...  to flourish, and politically salient sector risks to develop, which now depend on the New Zealand government cowering in the corner and never upsetting Beijing... It should be a matter of priority ... to look to reduce those specific exposures, encouraging greater resilience in the respective industries, so that one day we could have the courage to stand for what we believe – assuming that among the political classes, belief is still about something more than the last trade dollar, and the next political donation. In time – one hopes, (in a day decades hence when freedom comes to China) – we should aim for a relationship of trust and mutual respect, not one of the battered wife cowering in the corner."
~ Michael Reddell, from his post 'Economic Coercion PRC-Style'
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