China tells New Zealand to stop 'creating trouble' after Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters backed Taiwan rejoining the World Health Organization

• China and New Zealand have been clashing over a call to let Taiwan rejoin the World Health Organization as an observer state.
• Last week New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said he personally thought Taiwan should be able to rejoin WHO based on its success combatting the coronavirus.
• New Zealand's Chinese Embassy criticized Peters and reinforced the "One-China" policy, which asserts Taiwan is not a separate country.
• Peters told Ambassador Wu Xi to listen to her "master" in Beijing.
• On Monday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lihan, warned New Zealand risked damaging the two nations' relationship if "certain people" didn't stop "spreading rumors and creating trouble."
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China warned New Zealand this week that it risks damaging the countries' relationship after New Zealand's deputy prime minister backed Taiwan rejoining the World Health Organization.

"We hope that certain people in New Zealand will stop spreading rumors and creating trouble and work to enhance instead of undermining bilateral mutual trust and cooperation," China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lihan, said in a press conference on Monday.

According to official Chinese policy, Taiwan is not a separate country but rather a breakaway province and part of "one China." Until 2016, Taiwan was an observer at WHO, under the name "Chinese Taipei." But China objected after the election of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and the country was again excluded.

But last week, New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said he personally believed Taiwan should be able to rejoin WHO as an observer.

"In the interests of international health you want every country in an international organization designed to improve the world's health," he said, according to the New Zealand Herald. "It's just logic."

It was later confirmed that the New Zealand government also backed letting Taiwan re-join WHO.

China "deplores and opposes" that position, Zhao told reporters, adding that Taiwan was using the pandemic to push for independence. The "one China" policy "must be observed," Zhao said, according to Stuff.co.nz

In his remarks, Peters, who is also New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs, praised Taiwan for how it's dealt with the pandemic: As of May 12, it's had only 440 reported cases of COVID-19 and 7 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

"They have got something to teach the world and every country, including China, must surely want to know the secret of their success," he said, according to public radio broadcaster RNZ.

Peters' support was based on public health reasons, not political motivations, New Zealand news site Newsroom reported. In a 2019 briefing, the government stated that it backed Taiwan's involvement in international organizations, provided participation didn't imply statehood.

After Peters made his comments, the Chinese Embassy in Wellington released a statement that "there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is part of China," according to RNZ.

The "one China" principle "is the political foundation of the China-New Zealand relationship," it added.

In response, Peters told Wu Xi, China's ambassador to New Zealand, that she needed to listen to her "master" in Beijing.

According to Newsroom, Peters said he was not worried about potential repercussions because China promised him it didn't "behave that way."

But, Zhao later said, "I wonder how he came to that assumption?"

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