China has imposed a travel ban on a group of New Zealand lawmakers after they recently visited Taiwan, Wellington said on Thursday.
The four MPs come from across the political spectrum and visited Taiwan as part of a cross-party delegation in May, national broadcaster RNZ reported.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ office confirmed the ban and said he was “surprised” by the move.
The chief diplomat has urged New Zealand diplomats to raise the issue with Chinese officials in Beijing and Wellington.
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and opposes the self-ruled island’s participation in international organizations and exchanges with other countries.
Peters’ office insisted on Thursday that the MPs’ visit was not inconsistent with New Zealand’s “One China” policy, in which Wellington recognizes Beijing’s claim over Taiwan.
“Members of the New Zealand Parliament are free to make their own individual decisions, independent of the government, about how they respond to invitations to travel overseas,” his spokesman said.
While Wellington does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, “this does not prevent New Zealand from maintaining commercial, economic, cultural and indigenous exchanges”, the country’s foreign ministry said.
“We intend to continue these exchanges as they benefit the people of New Zealand and are fully in line with our One China policy.”
One of the slapped MPs, Laura McClure, told RNZ 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 world,” she said.
“That’s part of living in a free democracy.”
The Chinese embassy in Wellington did not respond to a request for comment from AFP.
RNZ reported that the mission said it would lift the ban if the politicians apologized.
“It’s not exactly clear what we’re going to apologize for, and if it’s just for the Taiwan trip, I personally won’t apologize,” McClure said.
