A Falun Gong member protests as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrives in Perth, Australia. He was due in New Zealand today. Ross Swanborough / Getty Images
New Zealand members of China's Falun Gong Association intend filing papers to sue senior minister Bo Xilai in the High Court at Auckland today.
Mr Bo is due to arrive in Wellington late tomorrow, a member of the delegation headed by Premier Win Jiabao.
Falun Gong claims Mr Bo was
responsible for the torture and deaths of followers of the spiritual movement, banned in China, while he was governor of Liaoning Province from 2001 to 2004.
The association says he has been sued by Falun Gong members in eight countries. It said in a statement this morning papers would be filed at noon.
Helen Clark said today she was aware of the legal threat and said Mr Bo had been to New Zealand in the past.
"I met him then myself, he is obviously a very senior Chinese minister...and as far as New Zealand is concerned he's a welcome guest in the Prime Minister's party," she said.
Every high profile visitor who came to New Zealand attracted some kind of protest. "We live in a democracy where people are free to express an opinion and we hold up that right."
Helen Clark said she had no advice that the threat of legal action could make the premier's visit more difficult.
New Zealand has been engaged in trade talks with China for some time, but Helen Clark said the pace was "as expected" given the differences between the two countries and the fact they were the first between China and a Western country.
Australia is also negotiating a trade agreement with China and faces similar issues.
New Zealand was the first Western country to back China's accession to the World Trade Organisation and its status as a market economy.
China is New Zealand's fourth largest individual trading partner, accounting for more than $5.6 billion in two-way trade.
Exports to China account for almost 5.5 per cent of New Zealand's total exports.
- NZPA
