Prominent China critic still being 'harassed'

Prominent China expert and critic Anne-Marie Brady says she is still being harassed. Mail to her home and work is being tampered with and stolen.

A police investigation came to a halt in February after Prof Brady earlier reported a burglary and other incidents since publishing a paper on the influence of the Chinese communist party in the Pacific in 2017.

• This story was first published by RNZ

Police said the case was unresolved and there were no further lines of inquiry.

Prof Brady appeared before Parliament's justice committee yesterday morning, as part of its inquiry into the 2017 general election and 2016 local elections - but which includes looking at foreign interference.

Afterwards, she told media the harassment was still happening.

She said she continued to receive anonymous calls to her unlisted number, and her mail was being tampered with.

Police were investigating her complaints, she said.

Prof Brady said the Government "has to decide if it's willing to confront another government''.

"This is not about me. This is about New Zealand's relationship with China and about ability to protect our citizens.

"The Government needs to protect me and my family.''

She said she was employed to research and teach Chinese politics, and she would continue to do so despite expecting the harassment and attempts to intimidate her to continue.

The Government was taking her concerns "very seriously'', she said.

Having the chance to talk openly at the committee about what was a sensitive topic gave her hope that a strategy would be agreed on to make New Zealand resilient, Prof Brady said.

China under President Xi Jinping had changed, she said.

"Being a China specialist who understands the Chinese Communist Party and writes about the things I do, I am being targeted.''

Prof Brady's initial request to address the committee was turned down last month after four Labour MPs voted against it.

Committee chairman Labour MP Raymond Huo said at the time the decision to block her was "purely procedural'' as the deadline for making submissions to the committee had passed.

But he later backtracked and allowed her to submit.

Mr Huo has since announced he was stepping aside as committee chairman while its members consider the issue of foreign interference, due to a perceived conflict of interest.

China-born Mr Huo said it was his "personal preference'' to recuse himself from the committee while it deals with business relating to an inquiry into New Zealand elections and foreign interference.