BEIJING, 29 April, 2021 (TON): A recent report said, New Zealand has decided to distant itself from Australia to blacken China on its human-rights record.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said, "It's not necessary, all the time on every issue, to invoke Five Eyes as your first port of call in terms of creating a coalition of support around particular issues in the human-rights space.”

The NZ FM made the remarks at a news conference with her Australian counterpart Marise Payne in Wellington, according to the report released on 22 April.

"We also have to acknowledge that China's outlook the nature of China's external engagement both in our region and globally has changed in recent years," said Payne.

Clive Hamilton, a professor at the Charles Sturt University said, "New Zealand is adopting an extremely Beijing-friendly stance on these questions and breaking away from a much stronger position adopted by" the other Five Eyes partners.”

However, Australia had barred Chinese enterprises from participating in its 5G network construction on trumped-up charges.

Meanwhile, Australia frequently denied investment of Chinese companies in the country under the pretext of national security.