Beijing has criticised a cross-party group of New Zealand lawmakers for attending a reception held by Taiwan’s de facto embassy, saying they had violated the one-China principle.
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Last week, Chinese ambassador Wang Xiaolong wrote to a number of parliamentarians who had attended the October 24 event at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office to mark the foundation of the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name.
Wang warned them that their attendance breached New Zealand’s foreign policy and was “therefore unacceptable”.
The letter was criticised by New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who said on Tuesday that it had been “a mistake that he [Wang] shouldn’t have made”.
However, on Thursday, the Chinese embassy repeated its complaints, saying that Taiwan was a “core” issue for Beijing.
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“Members of parliament are not ordinary citizens. They are political representatives of New Zealand,” it said.
“Their attendance at the so-called National Day event of the ‘Republic of China’ goes far beyond civil, cultural or economic interactions and constitutes a serious violation of New Zealand’s one-China commitment.”