Inquiry to look at police control of China protest

By EUGENE BINGHAM

Police actions against demonstrators during the state visit of Chinese President Jiang Zemin will be looked into by a parliamentary inquiry.

Five MPs have been appointed to a special committee to look into the events during last September's visit and to see whether New Zealand has enough protections in place for peaceful protesters.

The former Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley, and top police may be called to give evidence.

Police went to great lengths to shield President Jiang's eyes from demonstrators, including forcibly removing about 80 noisy protesters from outside a state banquet in Christchurch.

Other incidents occurred in Auckland and Wellington.

Lawyers and civil libertarians accused the Government of turning the police into a private army following political instructions.

The Minister of Justice, Phil Goff, has asked the justice and electoral committee to look into the concerns.

"We have mulled it over and have decided that it's necessary to carry out this inquiry," committee chairman Tim Barnett said last night.

The investigation team will be chaired by Janet Mackey (Labour) and include Kevin Campbell (Alliance), Nandor Tanczos (Greens), Wayne Mapp (National) and Stephen Franks (Act).

Kaari Schlebach, of Students for a Free Tibet, said: "We were treated in New Zealand like the Chinese treat their people. But what you never get in China is people looking into it and having people ask questions."