New Zealand Lawmakers Visit Taiwan, Prompting One-Year Travel Ban From China

China has banned four New Zealand lawmakers from entering China, Hong Kong and Macau for one year after the lawmakers visited Taiwan in May. The Chinese embassy in Wellington conveyed the bans through New Zealand parliamentary officials. The embassy said the restrictions could be lifted if the lawmakers apologize.

The four lawmakers traveled to Taipei as part of a cross-party parliamentary delegation. Lawmakers in New Zealand decide individually whether to join such trips, which usually include representatives from multiple political parties. The four MPs come from across the political spectrum.

This marks the first time China has imposed such sanctions on New Zealand parliamentarians. A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the visit was not inconsistent with New Zealand’s One China policy, which includes acknowledgment of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is a province of China.

New Zealand is not among the 12 nations that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan’s government.

China’s embassy stated that it has consistently opposed visits to Taiwan by legislators from countries that have diplomatic relations with China, including New Zealand. The embassy said the New Zealand side should not be surprised by the opposition.

New Zealand officials in Beijing and Wellington will discuss the matter with China to express concern at this departure from past practice and to better understand it, the spokesperson for Peters said.

The government plans to convey that concern directly to Beijing. Laura McClure of the libertarian ACT party called the demand for an apology “frankly insulting” and said she would not comply. Duncan Webb of the center-left Labour Party said New Zealand values democratic institutions and the right to engage with partners abroad.

“If the cost of doing that is to be excluded from China for a year, I will pay that price,” Webb said. Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her government would also express concerns to Beijing and to China’s mission in Canberra. She told a Senate committee that members of parliament are free to make their own travel decisions independent of government and that placing pressure on parliamentarians is not appropriate.