Four lawmakers from New Zealand have been barred from traveling to China for a year following a visit to Taiwan last month, government officials said on Thursday, the first time such a restriction has ever been imposed.
The lawmakers, Maureen Pugh, Duncan Webb, Laura McClure and David Wilson, visited Taipei for five days in May as part of a cross-party group that was established in 2023 to maintain relations between Taiwan and New Zealand, the local media reported.
The travel ban, which emerged on Thursday, was met with shock in New Zealand. Lawmakers have visited Taiwan for years without issues, a spokesperson for New Zealand’s minister of foreign affairs, Winston Peters, said.
“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 M.P.s as a result of travel to Taiwan,” the spokesperson said, referring to members of Parliament.
The group was barred for a year from China, Hong Kong and Macau, the spokesperson added. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday strongly condemned China’s retaliatory measures against the New Zealand lawmakers and accused Beijing of interfering in its activities.
The travel ban suggested that China was escalating its efforts to isolate Taiwan, which it considers its territory. China, New Zealand’s largest trading partner, largely regards any engagement with Taiwan’s leaders as a violation of Chinese sovereignty.
