New Zealand today said it would express its concerns to Beijing after China unexpectedly barred four New Zealand lawmakers from entering Hong Kong, Macau and China as punishment for visiting Taiwan last month.
New Zealand lawmakers had visited the democratically governed nation for decades without a problem, a spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said.
"Such visits are not inconsistent with New Zealand's one China policy," the spokesperson said, referring to its policy since 1972 of recognizing Beijing as the sole government of China.
Photo: Reuters
"In the context of that long history, the minister was surprised to learn that China has taken a decision to, for the first time, impose travel bans on New Zealand MPs as a result of travel to Taiwan," they said.
Peters instructed New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials in Beijing and Wellington to discuss the matter with Chinese authorities "in order to express concern at this departure from past practice and to better understand it," the spokesperson said.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it strongly condemned China's "retaliatory" measures, adding that Beijing has no right to interfere in Taipei's interactions with "international friends."
"Parliamentary diplomacy is a normal practice among democratic nations," it said in a statement, urging China to stop pressuring and interfering with elected legislators from other countries who engage in exchanges with Taiwan.
New Zealand and China have maintained a largely stable relationship over the past few years, with China remaining New Zealand's largest trading partner, even as Wellington has grown more outspoken about Beijing's expanding influence in the Pacific.
Senior politicians from both countries have exchanged a number of visits over the past three years, with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon visiting China last year.
China claims Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control.
"MPs are not ordinary citizens," a spokesperson from the Chinese embassy in New Zealand said in a statement on its Web site.
"China has consistently opposed visits to China's Taiwan region by members of the legislatures of countries that have established diplomatic relations with China, including New Zealand, and this case is no exception," the spokesperson said. "The New Zealand side should not be surprised."
The Chinese embassy said that four lawmakers had been banned from entering China, Hong Kong and Macau for a year, according to an e-mail from the Office of the Clerk, which administers New Zealand's parliament.
The ban targeted three lawmakers from the ruling center-right coalition, Laura McClure, David Wilson and Maureen Pugh, along with opposition Labour Party lawmaker Duncan Webb.
McClure told the New Zealand Herald the travel ban was "a type of foreign interference."
"I'm not going to apologize for visiting Taiwan," she said.
The Chinese embassy told New Zealand parliament officials that the travel ban could be reduced or waived if the lawmakers apologized for the trip, the e-mail said.
A New Zealand parliament official confirmed a meeting with Chinese embassy representatives but did not disclose details.
Like most countries, New Zealand has no formal ties with Taiwan. Under New Zealand's constitution, lawmakers are independent of the government and make their own travel decisions when invited.
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