Old friends in the New Asia: New Zealand, Australia and the rise of China

Like cousins, or even siblings, the relationship between New Zealand and Australia often seems to be defined by family things: things that the two countries share and which sets them apart from the rest of the world. Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), New Zealand–Australia closer economic relations (CER), endless sporting rivalries, slights and triumphs, niggling resentments and genuine grievances with one another encapsulate the rivalry, antagonism, support and closeness that is more often than not found in a family. This gives the relationship a feeling of self-containment. That is, from both sides of the Ditch the New Zealand–Australian relationship seems as if it exists in a little trans-Tasman world of its own. But of course there are limits to this sense of intimacy: both New Zealand and Australia have always been profoundly shaped by the world beyond — and, as we see, there have always been real differences in the way the two countries have approached that wider world…