Public Viewing Bureau｜New Zealand completed the transfer of power in a short period of time! Both prime ministers “want to visit China”

New Zealand’s political scene has been somewhat lively in the past few days.

On January 19, local time, New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern suddenly announced her resignation, shocking both the country and the world.

Fortunately, New Zealand completed the transfer of power in a short period of time. On January 25, local time, Chris Hipkins, leader of New Zealand’s ruling Labor Party, was sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Chris Hipkins

Previously, according to CCTV News, on January 22, local time, the New Zealand Labor Party stated at a caucus meeting that it would officially confirm Chris Hipkins. Putin is the leader of the Labor Party and the 41st Prime Minister of New Zealand.

The 44-year-old Hipkins is a professional politician. During the COVID-19 epidemic, he was appointed as the Minister of COVID-19 Response. He played an important role in the formulation of New Zealand's epidemic prevention policy and became famous.

He was first elected as a Labor MP in 2008 and has served in Congress for 15 years so far. After Ardern announced that she would resign as prime minister, Hipkins also became the only prime minister nominee.

He and Ardern entered Parliament in the same year in 2008 and have served in different positions such as Minister of Education, Minister of Police and Public Services, and Leader of the House of Representatives. They have rich political experience and enjoy the reputation of "solving problems" "Expert" title.

According to foreign media reports, Hipkins said on January 23 that the new government will quickly reassess policy priorities and focus on the difficulties faced by many families and industrial and commercial enterprises. The government will pay attention to the people's Livelihood issues, including inflation.

In addition, Hipkins also said that he will "manage" the government's work plan and cut unnecessary reform agenda to ensure that more resources and attention can be focused on the economy. In addition, he also hinted at the possibility of reform of New Zealand's tax system.

Coincidentally, Ardern also signaled a renewed focus on economic policy at the end of last year and made a similar commitment. New Zealand is experiencing high inflation rarely seen in more than 30 years. In December last year, food prices in the country increased by 11.3% year-on-year.

Why did her resignation cause a sensation in New Zealand and around the world?

At the press conference announcing her resignation, Ardern choked up and her eyes filled with tears. But she still said goodbye with a smile: "Today I announce that I will not seek re-election."

Ardern

Xinhuanet once commented that Ardern is young and capable. , friendly appearance, and its "emergence" not only changed the background color of the Labor Party's campaign posters, but also changed voters' views on this party, causing the Labor Party's support rate to soar rapidly, even surpassing the National Party in the polls.

So what did Ardern do during her tenure that made her resignation cause a sensation in New Zealand and around the world?

Time came to 2017, when the 37-year-old Ardern was elected Prime Minister of New Zealand, she not only became the third female leader in the history of New Zealand, but also became the youngest female leader in the world.

In the nearly six years since then, she has led New Zealand through crisis after crisis, and has been named "the most influential person in the world" by Time magazine many times. She gave birth to her daughter Neve while in office, becoming the second national leader in the world to give birth while in office. Three months later, she took her daughter into the United Nations General Assembly in New York, inspiring hundreds of millions of working women around the world.

During Ardern’s tenure, New Zealand encountered a series of crises, the most concerning of which were a terrorist attack, a natural disaster and a global health crisis.

In March 2019, mass shootings occurred at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 51 people and injuring more than 50 others. Ardern soothed the shocked New Zealanders, and at the same time, she took decisive gun control measures. On the one hand, she bought back guns, and on the other hand, she quickly revised the gun control bill to ban the sale of most semi-automatic weapons.

In December of the same year, the White Island volcano in New Zealand suddenly erupted, killing 22 people. Ardern once again showed great empathy and action. She comforted the families of the victims, arranged the aftermath, and expressed her gratitude to those who participated in the rescue.

In 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic swept across the world. Ardern responded quickly and began to close the border and "lock down the country" in mid-to-late March. As a result, good anti-epidemic results were achieved, and New Zealand became the world's deadliest victim of COVID-19. one of the countries with the lowest rates. She herself attended almost every epidemic press conference in the two years before the epidemic, and her speech at 1 p.m. every day has become a must-see program for many New Zealanders. Some commentators called Ardern's response to the epidemic "a masterclass in crisis communication."

Polls in May 2020 showed that Ardern became New Zealand's most popular prime minister in a century, with her approval rating soaring to 59.8%, an increase of 20.8 percentage points from pre-epidemic polls. The support rating of the Labor Party she leads has also increased significantly, reaching 56.5%.

However, in the past year, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and other factors, New Zealand's inflation has intensified, the economic situation has been sluggish, the domestic crime rate has increased, and social inequality has become prominent. The problem caused by this is that Ardern's approval rating continues to decline, and the Labor Party's approval rating has also declined significantly.

In January 2022, Ardern's approval rating has dropped to its lowest point since taking office.

According to the Guardian, poll data show that her approval rating has dropped to 35%, but she is still New Zealand's most popular prime minister.

Speculations are rampant about the reasons for Ardern's resignation. "Leading a country is the most honorable job for anyone, but it is also the most challenging. If you don't have enough energy, plus some reserve energy to deal with unexpected challenges, you can't also I shouldn’t be doing this job. I don’t have enough energy to do this job,” Ardern said on January 19.

Those who “attach great importance to China” want to visit China

In terms of foreign affairs, the new Prime Minister Hipkins said that the relationship between New Zealand and China is very important to the economy and will visit China in the future. It will be an important task in his administration, but he did not specify when he planned to visit China.

Ardern took office in 2017, and China has been New Zealand's largest trading partner since 2017. During Ardern's tenure as Prime Minister of New Zealand, China-New Zealand relations have developed steadily.

In terms of security and defense, the New Zealand government led by Ardern is considered to be a member of the "Five Eyes Alliance" headed by the United States who is not vigilant enough towards China and has an overly soft attitude.

According to Observer.com, on December 9, 2022 local time, Ardern said that as China gradually optimizes its epidemic prevention policies, once the entry policy is also relaxed, she hopes to lead a trade delegation Visit China.

In addition, the New Zealand government stated on the 11th of this month that it will not require Chinese tourists to provide a negative nucleic acid test certificate. The country has also previously issued a statement stating that the epidemic prevention requirements for international arrivals remain unchanged, pointing out that additional entry restrictions are "unnecessary and unreasonable".

New Zealand Tourism Minister Nash said the return of international tourists is important for New Zealand jobs and economic growth. Tourism consumption is expected to continue to rise this summer, and many tourism industry players are also looking forward to the return of Chinese tourists, which will bring major benefits to New Zealand's tourism industry.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on the 19th that the New Zealand Prime Minister’s announcement of resignation is New Zealand’s internal matter and China has no comment. He also said that China and New Zealand are each other's important cooperative partners. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 50 years ago, China-New Zealand relations have maintained healthy and stable development. China is willing to work with New Zealand to uphold the principles of mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win, strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust, expand exchanges, promote cooperation, and push forward the China-New Zealand comprehensive strategic partnership.