Small countries, including New Zealand, must be willing to take part in global or regional organizations if they want their voices heard, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jenny Shipley said in a recent interview.
Shipley served as New Zealand's prime minister from 1997 to 1999.
Recalling the early days of New Zealand-China free trade talks, Shipley said she had started the conversation with then Chinese President Jiang Zemin at the 1999 APEC meeting. That exchange, she said, was an example of how the two sides could work toward a meeting of minds. The process eventually led to a free trade agreement between the two countries.
"It was a good illustration of the small learning from the large, and the large learning from the small. We were able to make progress together," she said.
Reporter | Wang Hang
Video editor | Lu Xiaoyue
Video script | Wang Hang, Dong Han
