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WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand has actually suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and made a number of other modifications following China’s decision to pass a national security law for the area, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said on Tuesday.
” New Zealand can no longer trust that Hong Kong’s criminal justice system is sufficiently independent from China,” Peters stated in a statement.
” If China in future programs adherence to the ‘one country, 2 systems’ structure then we might reevaluate this choice.”
Beijing enforced new legislation on the previous British colony previously this month in spite of the demonstrations of Hong Kong residents and Western countries, setting the monetary center on a more authoritarian track.
Australia, Canada and Britain all suspended extradition treaties with Hong Kong previously this month. U.S. President Donald Trump has actually ended preferential economic treatment for Hong Kong.
Peters said New Zealand will deal with military and dual-use products and innovation exports to Hong Kong in the exact same way as it deals with such exports to China as part of an evaluation of its general relationship with Hong Kong.
Travel advice has actually been updated to inform New Zealanders to the dangers provided by the brand-new security law, he added.
In a website declaration, the Chinese embassy in New Zealand called the choice an offense of international law and gross interference in China’s internal affairs.
” The Chinese side has lodged its severe issue and strong opposition,” an embassy representative stated in the declaration.
FILE PICTURE: New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters gets here at a news conference after he attended an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey, March 22,2019 REUTERS/Murad Sezer
China reserves the right to make a further response, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a day-to-day press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner, with yearly two-way trade just recently exceeding NZ$32 billion ($21 billion).
New Zealand’s ties with China have frayed recently after the Pacific country backed Taiwan’s participation at the World Health Company (WHO).
Editing by Sam Holmes and Clarence Fernandez
