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A group of New Zealand politicians met with Taiwan’s President during a trip last week to the self-ruling island off the coast of China.
Under New Zealand’s One China policy, New Zealand does not recognise Taiwan as an independent country. New Zealand acknowledges China’s claim that Taiwan is part of China but does not take a position on the merits of the claim.
In 2023, a group of MPs launched the “All Party Parliamentary Group on Taiwan” that intended to foster a deeper connection between New Zealand and Taiwan politicians. Two Act MPs made the journey to Taiwan that year, followed by a larger group in 2024.
A delegation set out last week for Taiwan, led by National’s Stuart Smith and Labour’s Tangi Utikere. Other MPs on the trip include National’s Greg Fleming and Hamish Campbell, New Zealand First MP Jamie Arbuckle, Act’s Cameron Luxton and Labour MP Helen White. None were Government ministers.
On Thursday, the group met with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who was elected to the role last year and rejects China’s claims of sovereignty over Taiwan.
The President’s office issued a lengthy statement, a video and photos of the meeting.
The group of New Zealand politicians meet with the Taiwanese President.
In his remarks, Lai thanked the New Zealand Government for “reiterating the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait on multiple occasions since last year”.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has on several occasions highlighted New Zealand’s interest in a peaceful resolution of issues in the Taiwan Strait, including last year, when Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited Wellington. On that occasion, Luxon also reaffirmed New Zealand’s commitment to the One China policy.
Lai said it was important that democracies co-operate and “jointly safeguard peace, stability and the prosperous development of the Indo-Pacific region”.
“Taiwan and New Zealand share the universal values of democracy, freedom and respect for human rights, and parliamentary diplomacy is a tradition practised by democracies around the world,” Lai said.
“Looking ahead, our parliamentary exchanges and mutual visits are bound to become more frequent. This will enable us to explore even more opportunities for co-operation and further deepen and solidify the democratic partnership between Taiwan and New Zealand.”
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te has rejected China's claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Photo / AFP
He also said he hoped “deeper collaboration” between Taiwan and New Zealand in areas like “smart agriculture, food manufacturing, biomedicine, the digital economy and clean energy, as well as exchanges among our indigenous peoples” would benefit the countries’ economies.
Taiwan is New Zealand’s 13th-largest trading partner when it comes to two-way trade, valued at $2.93 billion in 2024. However, that is small compared with New Zealand’s trade with China, worth $38.26b last year.
The statement says both Smith and Utikere delivered remarks, with the MPs commenting on the strong relationship between New Zealand and Taiwan.
Smith is said to have highlighted that both places have a focus on trade and rely on easy access to imports and exports, making freedom of navigation important.
A Royal New Zealand Navy vessel sailed through the Taiwan Strait alongside an Australian ship in September last year. Defence Minister Judith Collins at the time described it as a “routine activity” that wasn’t directed or requested by any country.
Smith shared the Taiwan President’s statement on Facebook, writing that it was a “great pleasure and an honour” to be received by him and “discuss trade opportunities”.
“It’s been a great week in Taiwan for our cross-party delegation and a privilege to meet with President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and discuss our existing and future trade and business partnership. We have been hosted very well!” he also wrote.
It's been a great week in Taiwan for our cross party delegation and a privilege to meet with President Lai Ching-te...
In social media posts, Smith highlighted Taiwan as being an “important source of imports, tourism and investment” and a key export market for New Zealand.
The National MP also went to a human rights museum in Taipei “dedicated to the universal values of democracy, freedom and justice”, visited the district of Wulai for a log cart rail journey and weaving and sang with an entertainer at a Michelin Star restaurant.
Other New Zealand politicians have previously visited Taiwan. In 2022, while out of office, Winston Peters attended a forum in Taipei where he urged democracies to work together.
“Taiwan believes in freedom. So do we. Taiwan believes in democracy. So do we. Taiwan believes in the rule of law. So do we. Taiwan believes that citizens have the right to question their Governments. And so do we,” he told forum guests.
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office.
