June 5 (Reuters) - New Zealand will directly raise China's "entirely inappropriate" ban on four lawmakers who visited Taiwan with Beijing, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Friday.
Three backbenchers from New Zealand's centre-right coalition, Laura McClure, David Wilson and Maureen Pugh, along with Duncan Webb from the Labour party, visited Taipei last month for five days.
The Chinese embassy informed lawmakers the group had been banned from entering China, Hong Kong and Macau for a year, according to an email from the Office of the Clerk, which administers New Zealand's parliament.
Luxon said the backbenchers did not represent the executive government in Taiwan and should be "free to see who they want to see".
"We think it's entirely inappropriate, the reaction that we've seen from the Chinese. We will raise that with them ourselves," he told reporters during a visit to Australia, where he will meet his counterpart Anthony Albanese.
Three backbenchers from New Zealand's centre-right coalition, Laura McClure, David Wilson and Maureen Pugh, along with Duncan Webb from the Labour party, visited Taipei last month for five days.
The Chinese embassy informed lawmakers the group had been banned from entering China, Hong Kong and Macau for a year, according to an email from the Office of the Clerk, which administers New Zealand's parliament.
Luxon said the backbenchers did not represent the executive government in Taiwan and should be "free to see who they want to see".
"We think it's entirely inappropriate, the reaction that we've seen from the Chinese. We will raise that with them ourselves," he told reporters during a visit to Australia, where he will meet his counterpart Anthony Albanese.
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