A Chinese political specialist says there's nothing to panic about when it comes to New Zealand and China's relationship.

Last week, Winston Peters spoke out in support of Taiwan's membership of the World Health Organisation, sparking a rebuke from China.

Peters said New Zealand supported Taiwan taking part in meeting as an observer is because of its "tremendous success against Covid-19".

The Chinese Embassy responded in a statement: "There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is part of China".

Professor Anne Marie Brady told The Weekend Collective the Government should be defending the decisions they have made - including closing the borders when we needed to.

"It's just a normal part of our foreign policy that our Government will defend our interests."

She said that China put huge pressure on New Zealand to not close our borders in the early stages of the pandemic. 

However, Brady said that there is a difference between what China says and their actions. 

"New Zealand hasn't been disadvantaged in our trade with China. In fact, our trade has gone up with China." 

She said that Canada and Sweden have been punished by China over their actions, so some strong words are small degree compared to those countries.