The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it “strongly condemns” China’s decision to impose a travel ban on a group of New Zealand lawmakers after they visited Taipei last month.
Beijing earlier yesterday said it barred a group of New Zealand lawmakers from entering China after they visited officials in Taiwan as part of a cross-party delegation, accusing them of interfering in Chinese domestic affairs.
Taiwan and China “are not subordinate to one another,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that Taiwan’s “interactions with international friends are the legitimate rights of both sides, and China has no right to interfere.”
Photo: Presidential Office / AFP
New Zealand voiced concern over the ban on four of its members of parliament (MPs), saying its lawmakers have been visiting Taiwan for decades.
Lawmakers Simon O’Connor and Ingrid Leary created the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Taiwan in March 2023 with the goal of improving ties with the nation, and holding discussions about trade, healthcare and semiconductor technology.
The ministry last month said the trip was the group’s third since its founding.
One of the MPs hit with a ban, Laura McClure, said China was trying to intimidate New Zealand lawmakers.
“New Zealand is sovereign, and members of parliament have the right to represent the communities and constituents that we do, and we have the right to travel freely around the globe,” she said. “That is part of living in a free democracy.”
Radio New Zealand reported that the Chinese embassy in Wellington had said it would reverse the ban if the politicians apologized.
“It’s not exactly clear what we would be apologizing for, and if it is just for traveling to Taiwan, I personally will not be apologizing,” McClure said.
Labour MP Duncan Webb, who took part in the trip, told the broadcaster that the lawmakers had been warned by the Chinese embassy before traveling that they faced a ban if they went.
“With the increasing tensions, I suppose a response wasn’t surprising, but I think it is disappointing,” he said.
Beijing’s embassy in Wellington said the delegation had defied repeated warnings against traveling to Taiwan, where they met with Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴).
“The actions of these MPs violate the ‘one China’ principle and constitute interference in China’s internal affairs,” an embassy spokesperson said. “Whoever crosses the red line on the Taiwan question will face the consequences.”
The office of New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters rejected the claim that the visit violated the government’s position on the status of Taiwan.
He defended the MPs’ right to visit Taiwan and said he had instructed the nation’s diplomats “to express concern at this departure from past practice and to better understand it.”
“New Zealand members of parliament are free to make their own individual decisions, independent of the government, about how they respond to invitations to travel overseas,” his spokesperson said.
While Wellington does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, “this does not preclude New Zealand from maintaining trade, economic, cultural and indigenous exchanges [with the nation],” New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
“We intend to continue these exchanges, as they benefit the people of New Zealand and are entirely consistent with our one China policy,” it added.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) said Canberra was “concerned” by the bans, and that diplomats would raise the issue with Chinese counterparts.
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