China doubles down on Kiwi MP travel ban, says they shouldn’t be surprised
Thursday, 4 June 2026
Unprecedented travel ban: China has banned four New Zealand MPs from entering China, Hong Kong, and Macau for one year, marking the first time such travel sanctions have been imposed on NZ lawmakers.
Beehive views as escalation: Foreign Minister Winston Peters expressed surprise at the decision, stating that MP visits to Taiwan have occurred for decades and are consistent with New Zealand's 50-year-old One China policy.
Official explanation sought: Peters has instructed Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) officials in Beijing and Wellington to raise concerns and seek answers from the Chinese system regarding this departure from past practice.
Conditional apology offered: The Chinese Embassy communicated the ban via the Office of the Clerk, noting that if the affected MPs apologize, the sanctions may be suspended or cancelled.
China is doubling down on its travel ban against four Kiwi MPs. Its Wellington embassy says they were warned not to visit Taiwan.
The embassy issued a statement on Thursday afternoon, after Foreign Minister Winston Peters instructed his officials to seek an explanation after four MPs were banned from visiting China in response to a visit to Taiwan last month.
It’s the first time a travel ban has been imposed on New Zealand MPs, and is understood to be seen as an escalation by the Beehive.
In a statement on Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson for Peters said he was “surprised” to see this reaction from China.
“New Zealand has maintained its One China policy for over half a century,” he said.
But China’s embassy said this travel ban shouldn’t have surprised anyone.
“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 New Zealand side should not be surprised,” a statement, sent from the embassy said.
Peters’ office said New Zealand’s parliamentarians were free to make their own decisions about where they visited, and the Government would not control that.
“New Zealand MPs have visited Taiwan for decades and such visits are not inconsistent with New Zealand’s One China policy,” Peters’ spokesman 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 MPs as a result of travel to Taiwan.”
But China’s embassy said MPs were “not ordinary citizens”.
Like many countries, New Zealand acknowledges - but does not necessarily accept - China’s “one China policy,” under which China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory.
The statement from Peters’ office went on to say MPs were free to make their own calls on travel invitations, independent of the Government, and that Peters was seeking answers through officials as to why China had made the decision to ban the MPs.
“He has instructed MFAT [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] officials in Beijing and Wellington to discuss this matter with the Chinese system, in order to express concern at this departure from past practice and to better understand it.”
The MPs who took part in the five-day visit in May were National’s Maureen Pugh, Labour’s Duncan Webb, ACT’s Laura McClure and NZ First’s David Wilson.
The delegation was part of the “All-Party Parliamentary Group on Taiwan”, a cross-party group launched in 2023 to coordinate legislative relations, soft diplomacy and economic cooperation between New Zealand and Taiwan.
The ban was announced in an email to the affected MPs from a manager within the Office of the Clerk, which takes care of procedural aspects of Parliament.
The email, seen by Stuff, said the Office of the Clerk had a meeting on Tuesday with officials from the Chinese Embassy, a request made by the embassy itself to share some “important key messages”.
As a result of that meeting, it said the Chinese Government had decided to deny the four MPs entry to China, Hong Kong and Macau for one year.
According to Parliamentary Service, the embassy said that if the members apologised, the “sanctions concerned” may be “suspended or cancelled”.
The embassy added it would not be “publicly sharing” the announcement.
One of the MPs to be banned, ACT’s Laura McClure, told Stuff she was “surprised to say the least”, as many other New Zealand MPs had travelled to Taiwan and not been banned.
“There was nothing specific about this trip that made it any different to any of those other trips that we quite often frequently take, so I was surprised.”
In a statement, an MFAT spokesperson said the One China policy applied to the New Zealand Government, distinguishing the difference of non-government members of parliament.
“While New Zealand does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, this does not preclude New Zealand from maintaining trade, economic, cultural and indigenous exchanges. We intend to continue these exchanges as they benefit the people of New Zealand and are entirely consistent with our One China policy,” it said.
“There is a long-standing practice of New Zealand Members of Parliament visiting Taiwan, and such visits are not inconsistent with New Zealand’s One China policy. In the New Zealand constitutional system, Members of Parliament do not represent the government. They are independent and responsible to their constituents. It is up to MPs to make individual decisions about how they respond to invitations to travel in their capacity as MPs.”