I had been under the assumption that China was not good at innovating, that they copied Western innovations, and this was in part due to not having free speech.
I was wrong.
I think countries that have relationships with the East and the West (such as New Zealand) should not burn their Eastern bridges based on the USA-China rivalry and war-rumors. China has more to offer than the West, not just in terms of manufacturing (as has been the case for a long time), but in terms of tech innovation. At the same time, New Zealand with almost no defense capability of it's own can't just abandon it's ANZAC/ANZUS partners. We have to play both sides.