The Foreign Minister says it puts New Zealand in an uncomfortable situation to see Australia treated in a "punitive" way by China.
After a year in which China's targeted Australia with heavy trade sanctions, Australia's new Defence Minister Peter Dutton said recently the possibility of conflict with China over Taiwan should not be "discounted".
China in turn urged Australia to recognise it's a highly sensitive matter and to avoid sending any wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.
RNZs political editor, Jane Patterson, asked Nanaia Mahuta how New Zealand can balance these two critical relationships.
