Sydney-New Zealand’s trade minister said Thursday that he did not expect China’s economic retaliation for rising tensions on China’s allegations of cyberhacking. China has called on New Zealand to “give up” this week. [its] The “Cold War spirit” after the New Zealand government criticized Beijing for supporting hacking after a cyberattack on tech giant Microsoft.

New Zealand officials said Monday that they had found evidence of a Chinese-sponsored cyberattack in New Zealand. According to government officials, the Government Communications Security Bureau has established a link between a group called Advanced Persistent Threat 40, which is backed by Beijing, and malicious cyber activities in New Zealand.

On Monday, the United States and other Western countries, including New Zealand and Australia, accused China of hacking Microsoft Exchange, an email service used by businesses around the world. New Zealand said such interference would undermine the stability and security of the world.

China reacted angry. The embassy in Wellington issued a statement on Tuesday calling the hacking allegations “totally unfounded and irresponsible.” It urged New Zealand to “give up the Cold War spirit.”

New Zealand business leaders are increasingly concerned that political tensions will affect China’s favorable trade relations.

But trade minister Damien O’Connor told Radio New Zealand on Thursday that he didn’t expect economic retaliation.

“This is a security issue, not a trade issue,” he said. “We have no reason to believe that there should be any reaction. If you are a small business, a large company, or a country and you are heavily dependent on either market, it exposes you. It exposes you. That’s our reason. We are building trade agreements and relationships with all markets so that exporters and importers have a variety of options. “

New Zealand, a country of 5 million people, relies heavily on its largest trading partner, China.

Two-way trade is worth more than $ 23 billion. Dairy and meat are New Zealand’s major exports to China, while electronics and machinery are important imports.

New Zealand depends on world trade. It was one of the first countries to promote the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a major regional agreement. It was the first country to conclude a free trade agreement with Hong Kong.

New Zealand, along with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, is also part of the Five Eyes information sharing group.