China strips NZ-born children of citizenship

Tuariki Delamere. Photo / Greg Bowker

Children of Chinese overstayer parents are allegedly having their New Zealand citizenship stripped from them when they return to China, and many are taking their fight to court in a bid to keep them from being deported.

Rodney Harrison, QC, who is involved with two such cases in the Supreme Court, said in a letter to the Crown: "The Chinese Government's approach in the case of New Zealand citizen children born in New Zealand to Chinese citizen parents who are unlawfully in New Zealand is effectively to strip such children of their New Zealand citizenship and treat them as, if not compel them to become, Chinese citizens."

Justice John Priestly, who is presiding over the case involving 5-year-old Eason Diao in the High Court today, said there were at least three other cases "which raise directly or obliquely this issue" before the Supreme Court.

Immigration consultant Tuariki Delamere, a former Immigration Minister, who has five cases before the High Court and will be filing a further seven this week, said the number of Chinese children being forced to relinquish their New Zealand citizenship "could be in the thousands".

"But the sad reality is there will be no hue and cry and our Government will do little to help because they are seen as just Chinese kids," Mr Delamere said. He said once the children returned to China, their New Zealand passport would not be recognised by China and they would be asked to apply for a Chinese passport if they wanted to return. This will effectively strip them of their New Zealand citizenship because China does not recognise dual citizenship.

In one of the cases before the High Court, the Chinese parents of a 5-year-old boy are fighting to bring him home after Chinese authorities at Shenyang Airport stopped him from travelling on his New Zealand passport.

Eric Xibo Wu had gone to live with his grandparents in China about two years ago and travelled on Chinese travel documents because he did not have a New Zealand passport then, which he was issued only last year.

But Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said in a letter to Mr Delamere, who is the family's immigration consultant, that Chinese law prevented Eric from returning using his New Zealand passport.

"The Public Security Bureau advised that Eric's family need to obtain a 'hukou' or residential permit for Eric and then apply for a Chinese passport. Once Eric has a Chinese passport, he would then require a visa from Immigration New Zealand to enable him to return to New Zealand," Mr McCully said.

"Eric entered China on a Chinese travel document which has since expired. As the Chinese Government does not recognise dual nationality, Eric must depart China on a valid Chinese travel document and cannot travel on his New Zealand passport. This is in accordance to Chinese law."

Mr Delamere said it was "ridiculous" to ask a citizen to apply for a visa, and questioned why the New Zealand Government is not doing more to help children such as Eric.

"At the end of the day, what is undisputed is that Eric is a New Zealand citizen who is being prevented from leaving China by Chinese Government authorities," Mr Delamere said.

"Further, the Citizenship Act 1977 makes it unlawful for anyone to take any steps to renounce or cancel the New Zealand citizenship of a New Zealand citizen minor child such as Eric Wu. He is not a Chinese citizen and cannot become a Chinese citizen because China does not recognise dual citizenship."

A spokesman for the Department of Labour, which oversees immigration, said: "New Zealand law does not prevent New Zealand citizens from returning to New Zealand using a New Zealand passport, but Immigration New Zealand cannot comment on laws of other countries in respect of their exit requirements."

He said there were about 15,500 people unlawfully in New Zealand but could not speculate as to how many of these are parents, or are parents to New Zealand children and does not keep statistics on the number of these children leaving the country.