By Laurie Chen
BEIJING (Reuters) – New Zealand’s foreign minister said he had raised concerns over China’s recent live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea during meetings with Chinese leaders on Wednesday.
The issue was a lack of notice given to New Zealand over the military exercises off its coast, Winston Peters told reporters in Beijing after meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice Premier Han Zheng.
“This is a failure in (our special relationship) at this time, and we’d like to have it corrected into the future,” he said.
In their meeting, Wang told Peters both countries should become partners of mutual trust and resolve “some specific differences” through dialogue, according to a readout from China’s foreign ministry.
Peters is in Beijing for a three-day visit after relations between the two countries became strained over the drills.
New Zealand and Australian officials said that China had conducted live-fire exercises in…
