Visiting New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will discuss gun control if it pops up during her meeting with President Joe Biden on Tuesday, and the left-wing leader is “open to sharing” his country’s experience.
The United States is still recovering from a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which a gunman shot and killed 19 children and two adults.
New Zealand is sadly no stranger to gun violence, after a gunman attacked two mosques in Christchurch in 2019 and killed at least 50 people.
According to Breitbart News, Ardern was applauded at Harvard University last week when she spoke about her government’s commitment to enforce strict gun control laws in the wake of this deadly attack.
New Zealand’s Left-wing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern received an enthusiastic response Thursday at Harvard University when she voiced her government’s commitment to strict gun control laws that bind them to defending democracy. https://t.co/a8FFYTeCjr
– Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 27, 2022
White House officials said that the former head of the International Socialist Youth League will also meet with Vice President Kamala Harris at 10:30 on Tuesday, and then meet with Biden at 11:00.
The face-to-face meeting represents the leader of the South Pacific island nation’s first visit since 2014 and takes place in a world still recovering from rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific and the coronavirus pandemic.
“As you can see, there will be a number of topics on the agenda as you can imagine, but the main issue for us is the situation in our region with the open war in Ukraine,” Ardern said, according to Stuff NZ. The publication added that Ardern’s willingness to share its gun control expertise could be seen.
MASK OFF: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern admitted she wants to create two classes of citizens based on vaccination status. https://t.co/JItW1BI772
– Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) October 25, 2021
While Ardern says it shouldn’t just be a bulwark against an expansionist China, New Zealand’s position continues to favor the highest possible US involvement in the regions, especially in economic terms.
“We will continue to encourage the United States to truly continue and strengthen engagement with our region, including economic engagement that is truly critical to our region,” Ardern said.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern watches a press conference in San Francisco, California, May 27, 2022. California Governor Gavin Newsom and Ardern have launched a new international partnership to tackle climate change. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“Actually, the important thing is that all our relations in the Pacific region must be built on their own, not because there is another country. It can’t just be about China.”
The visit comes on Tuesday, nearly a week after Biden’s trip to East Asia, where he met with leaders from Australia, Japan and India to discuss China’s creation of artificial islands and naval bases, and cooperation with other countries in the region to build military installations.
Source: Breitbart
