There are reports that Chinese communist party anti-corruption officials are looking to investigate suspects in New Zealand.
National Party President Peter Goodfellow Photo: SUPPLIED
According to a report in the Financial Times newspaper, the case concerns the former deputy mayor of one of China's largest cities, Guangzhou, who has been detained on corruption charges.
It said an accomplice is a Chinese New Zealander, who returned to New Zealand.
The newspaper's Beijing Bureau chief Jamil Anderlini told Nine to Noon that the former deputy mayor's family is also in New Zealand.
"His wife and child were already in New Zealand. It's unclear whether they were residents or citizens. Also, apparently the mistress of the vice-mayor is also living in New Zealand," he said.
New Zealand immigration authorities will not discuss the case for privacy reasons or confirm the people are in the country.
National Party President involved
Jamil Anderlini said the National Party President, Peter Goodfellow got involved in the matter during a visit to China last year.
"Peter Goodfellow, he met with the vice-secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on 1 November, 2013, and praised China's anti-corruption campaign and said that the National Party was willing to engage in concrete communication and co-operation with the CCDI."
Jamil Anderlini said the CCDI, or anti corruption unit, is connected with the Communist Party, not China's Ministry of Justice, which raises question marks about any New Zealand co-operation with it.
In a statement Peter Goodfellow said he seeks to have co-operative relationships with political parties around the world.
Amnesty International said CCDI has tortured some people it had captured.
Amnesty International's China Researcher, William Nee, said the CCDI is not an official body of the government.
"The people who are detained in China are held in isolation, they're not allowed to talk to legal council, their not allowed to talk to family members."
Neither the police nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs say they have had any involvement.
