The University of Otago foreign affairs specialist made the comments to Global Insight when detailing the significance of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s speech to the Chinese Communist Party five-yearly congress this week.
‘‘It’s important that countries like China don’t just see us as another small power that it can dictate to,’’ Prof Patman said.
In addition, the country needs to do more to publicly identify where it stands on issues, he said.
‘‘New Zealand needs to translate some of its values in to public statements on issues that matter dearly to this country.’’
Watch highlights of interview with Prof Robert Patman:
Prof Patman outlined the social, economic and security implications of Xi’s speech for China and the global community.
He also spoke of United States President Joe Biden’s "warm" personal relationship with Xi, and described the Chinese President’s comments about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an ‘‘own goal’’ that could haunt him.
