When it comes to diplomatic side-steps, New Zealand's foreign service is up there with the All Blacks' finest.Asked by Green MP Keith Locke whether the Chinese government had tried to pressure New Zealand diplomats into not attending the official Nobel Pe
When it comes to diplomatic side-steps, New Zealand’s foreign service is up there with the All Blacks’ finest.
Asked by Green MP Keith Locke whether the Chinese government had tried to pressure New Zealand diplomats into not attending the official Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo today, Foreign Minister Murray McCully confirmed it had.
In Parliament, he said: “New Zealand officials have advised that our normal practice is to not attend the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo,” adding that no diplomats would be attending this year, either.
In answer to a further question, Mr McCully said: “In the last five years, no New Zealand diplomats have attended the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony.”
The international press has reported 65 diplomats were sent invitations in Oslo, but it seems New Zealand’s consulate-general Dag Bjorn Byvik there must not have been on the list.
Which is handy, as China has threatened, and taken, various moves against countries that do attend. To their credit, two-thirds of them have. For its part, host nation Norway has found its trade with China suspended.
Some 19 countries did accede to China’s demand for a boycott of the ceremony, in which jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the prize in absentia. With the exception of the Philippines, all are authoritarian, communist or Islamic countries (see "Global Hall of Shame").
The Philippines' excuse was that it did not want to further inflame China because of the bungled hostage rescue in August when police shot dead eight tourists from Hong Kong.
Mr Locke says, “New Zealand should stand beside this brave Nobel Peace Prize winner in his efforts to bring greater democracy to China. Our presence would both honour Mr Liu and show the Chinese government that putting pressure on democratic countries such as New Zealand is counterproductive.
“It is not too late for a diplomat in our Stockholm Embassy to hop on a train to Oslo to attend the ceremony. New Zealand’s diplomatic presence in Scandinavia is new, which has limited our attendance at Nobel ceremonies in previous years.
“But that shouldn’t be used as an excuse for our government to avoid this year’s Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony."
Liu is the fifth laureate in the 109-year history of the prize who could not go to the award ceremony for political reasons. The most recent was German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, who was prevented by the Nazis from attending in 1935.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reports China has launched its most prolonged and severe crackdown on activists and dissidents in recent years to coincide with the ceremony.
It has also been reported the news websites of the BBC, CNN and Norwegian state broadcaster NRK have been blocked in China.
“Attempts to access the three broadcasters' websites today were unsuccessful, with the message "Internet Explorer cannot display the web page" appearing on the screen, “ AFP reported from Beijing.
