New Zealand politics academics are at loggerheads over whether former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key should be rubbing shoulders with "authoritarian axis" rulers in China.
The duo appeared alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping at a military parade, which was also attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The parade was hosted by China in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to commemorate 80 years since the eight-year Japanese invasion of China in 1937.
In unprecedented scenes, Mr Xi shook both Mr Putin and Mr Kim’s hands and chatted with the pair as the trio walked down a red carpet towards the square.
Mr Xi also shook hands with Ms Clark and Sir John.
University of Canterbury Chinese politics Prof Anne-Marie Brady, a critic of the Chinese government, criticised Ms Clark’s and Sir John’s attendance.
The event was framed as a celebration of China’s role in defeating fascism, but the attendance of Mr Putin and Mr Kim alongside leaders of other authoritarian regimes signalled it was meant as an "affirmation of a China-centred authoritarian axis".
Ms Clark and Sir John’s attendance risked validating a world view at odds with New Zealand’s, she said.
However, University of Otago politics Prof Robert Patman disagreed.
"I think both John Key and Helen Clark are aware that their visit will be criticised by some, and seen as endorsing China’s view of the world — but I don’t think that’s true.
"I think their visit is partly to gauge what’s happening in China, and partly in a diplomatic fashion convey concerns that a country that has an independent foreign policy can convey."
The economic ties between New Zealand and China was another reason they attended.
"They played a key role in developing our relationship with China, and I think both of them are slightly concerned that that relationship may be under strain.
"Helen Clark was in office when New Zealand became the first country in the world to sign a free trade agreement with China, and John Key consolidated that relationship.
"It’s an important relationship for New Zealand.
"So I think that this is an attempt to maintain a dialogue at a time when the Trump administration has become quite erratic and also moving America down an autocratic path, which is a big worry for many countries."
Prof Patman believed Ms Clark and Sir John would be there to listen, and also express New Zealand’s concerns, but they were not necessarily doing it on behalf of the New Zealand government.
"I think it’s much more of a reconnaissance mission with an open mind.
"They are probably trying to gauge opinion in Beijing, in light of an administration that’s come to power in Washington which doesn’t share the same values with New Zealand."
He believed both Sir John and Ms Clark would feed the information they learned from the visit back to the New Zealand government.
"Although they occupy different positions in the political spectrum, they both believe that the relationship with China is important for New Zealand’s prosperity.
"They believe that we shouldn’t be taking orders from Beijing ... but at the same time, they believe we should be careful to preserve a relationship that has been economically beneficial for us.
"That doesn’t mean you do what the other side wants, but it does mean that you carefully nurture the relationship where possible." — Additional reporting RNZ
