Asia is no longer just a region New Zealand looks towards. For many of us, it's part of our daily lives. From food and travel to culture and community, Paul Spoonley unpacks what the latest Perceptions of Asia report reveals about the changing ways New Zealanders engage with Asia and Asian peoples.

As Britain began to turn to Europe and what was then called the European Economic Community in the 1970s, the Prime Minister, Norman Kirk, set out a different vision for this country in his 1973 and 1974 Waitangi Day speeches.

He acknowledged the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi and the role of biculturalism for the future of Aotearoa New Zealand.

But he also stressed the importance of the country's location in the Asia-Pacific region. Asian countries, he argued, should not be seen as a threat but as representing new opportunities, especially economic.

In May 1993, another Prime Minister, Jim Bolger, went further: he declared, somewhat controversially, that New Zealand was now an "Asian country".

The latest Asia New Zealand Foundation Perceptions of Asia and Asian Peoples report provides an interesting insight into this country's growing links to and perceptions of Asia.

This is an annual survey that was first conducted by the Foundation in 1997 so it represents an interesting set of insights into how we have evolved on a range of issues and dimensions.

Kirk was prescient in terms of how significant the region would become in relation to trade. As the MFAT website notes, two-way trade with Asia now amounts to $US133 billion, and China has been our most important export destination for the last decade.

These economic connections, along with issues of defence and security, remain important talking points in the latest data, just as they were back in 1997. But what has significantly changed are "soft power" factors.

In the main, I do not mean the soft power exercised by states - although that can be a factor - but by communities. Let me explain.

There is a very interesting word map in the Perceptions of Asia report which identifies the words that New Zealanders most associate with Asia. Apart from "China", the word that is given most prominence is "food".

Prof Paul Spoonley speaks at the launch of the 2026 Perceptions of Asia report, in Auckland on June 23, 2026.

Fifty-nine percent of us are interested in Asian food in our daily lives followed by tourism and travel (47 percent). In relation to the latter, and a question about where New Zealanders under the age of 35 want to go for their overseas experience, 20 percent said Asia compared to Europe (27 percent) or Australia (14 percent).

There is also the growing interest in Asian sports teams and competitions (#1 being cricket) and there is a belief that sports teach us about other cultures and traditions.

It also seems that more of us are consuming Asia-related entertainment. Think "Squid Game" or "Parasite" which rose quickly to the top of the list of most popular Asia-related TV and film.

Part of this reflects our growing interest in travelling to Asia and enjoying the food, cultures and traditions of the region. But it is equally clear from this latest report that attitudes and engagement are changing locally. Asia is over "there" but in many aspects is also increasingly "here".

Growth of Asian communities in NZ

One factor that is contributing to these changes is the growing size of Asian communities, especially the larger ones from China, India and the Philippines, that have made New Zealand home. Asia and people from Asia are increasingly present in our communities, workplaces and educational settings.

Sixty percent of the respondents said that they felt increasingly connected to Asian cultures in their daily life.

What is reassuring is that on almost every measure, attitudes towards Asia and Asian people are becoming more positive.

Yes, there is a question about immigration from Asia and those answering in the positive about this migration have dropped from 56 percent to 52 percent in the last year. But that compares with an approval rating of 48 percent five years ago and 32 percent when the survey began in 1997.

Looking back, the report is an interesting barometer of how far we have come from those rather challenging years in the mid-1990s when some New Zealanders were anxious about our connections with Asia and the arrival of Asian communities here.

But it also foreshadows where we are going in terms of the significance of Asia in our lives - both in the big picture, trade, but also in our daily lives. (It would help if we had a better way of recognising the huge cultural, language and faith differences between these communities).

There are challenges but my optimistic side wants to stress the degree to which we have matured, hopefully in aware and appropriate ways, to the importance and presence of Asia and Asian peoples in New Zealand.

(This story was originally published by the Asia Media Centre.)