The father of a New Zealand child taken to China by his mother has warned officials that if they renew the boy's New Zealand passport it could pave the way for his indefinite residency there. Photo: RNZ
The father of a boy taken to China by his mother when he was three years old is pushing for urgent action to close a loophole that could make the abduction permanent.
Court orders and an Interpol notice have been issued over the last six years as the father searched for his son.
He has found no solution to the impasse, but has warned officials that if they renew the boy's New Zealand passport it could pave the way for his indefinite residency in China.
The father has been to China to look for his now-10-year-old son - but without knowing the address of his estranged wife, has not been able to track him down nor get help from authorities there.
But he has not given up hope of tracking down the boy, a New Zealand citizen, who had his birthday the day before his father spoke to RNZ.
"It was difficult, you know, not spending time with him on his special day. And not knowing where he is, how he's doing, it's quite upsetting. But that's reality, I suppose."
The Aucklander only discovered mother and son had left when he got an email late on a workday afternoon from a lawyer, and returned to find an empty home. She had fled the country.
"Just gone, you know, even without my knowledge or my consent, the mother just uplifted him and took off. I don't even know how it happened. In the marriage and all that, everything seems good and yeah, this is just all of a sudden. You know, never expected it to to happen and it happened."
That was in 2019 - in the years since then, a Family Court custody order and Interpol missing person alert, seen by RNZ, have been issued. They cannot be enforced, though, because China has not signed the Hague Convention - which governs how countries deal with international abductions and custody cases.
The father - who asked for anonymity to protect the family's privacy - said the Interpol notice would alert New Zealand authorities if he crossed certain countries' borders, and trigger the boy's return.
But that might never happen, and the man said the abduction could potentially be stopped now if there was urgent government intervention.
He said the key might be his son's passport - which needs renewing in eight weeks' time.
"His Chinese residence visa is only valid through the length of his New Zealand passport. It expires on 4th of November this year. The decision-maker has to realise that it's something serious, or they will miss the opportunity to do something about it."
Searches in China
In the months and years after his son and wife left, the man went through the Family Court process, with a decision that described the 2019 flight the mother took with her son as a "unilateral abduction". It granted the father full custody, saying he wanted to be a "real hands-on parent" and it was in the boy's best interest and welfare to be returned to New Zealand, where he could be cared for by both of his parents.
During Covid border restrictions, the father twice managed to arrange places for him and his son at managed isolation facilities.
"And she didn't comply. She agreed for my son to be in my care and for him to come back to New Zealand. But that wasn't the case, it's one of the tricks or something to keep the child abroad. And as soon as I had full custody - the court orders for the parenting order - she basically just vanished. All the communication stopped.
"I actually went over to Shanghai, twice, and couldn't find him. I went to the address that she supplied to the court before and I didn't see any evidence that he'd been living there.
"I went to the police in Shanghai asking for help and they say since you are a foreigner we can't really do much, go back to to New Zealand."
After the court order, the Interpol notices and drawing a blank in China, he did even more research.
"I talked to the immigration people and found out that my son's Chinese residence visa is tied to the validity of his New Zealand passport. If the passport expires, the visa goes with it. And if he's able to get a new passport, it will continue indefinitely. So what we can do is stop the issuance of the renewal passport."
However, he then discovered the passport department had no power to stop the boy's passport being renewed. He believed it was a loophole that needed fixing.
"Before it's been exploited and it would embarrass New Zealand on the world stage, something needs to be done to close this loophole. I don't think it's just my case because I don't think that my case is unique. I have pushed so far to find this out. And it is disturbing to find this loophole."
His case was not unique - Ministry of Justice figures, which include only Hague Convention states, show 163 children were taken from New Zealand or 'retained' overseas since 2020.
'Very real human consequences'
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
The father wrote to ministers, telling them Internal Affairs would be "administratively participating in the child's continued concealment" abroad if it failed to block the application, raising legal and ethical concerns and setting a "troubling precedent" for future cases.
Internal Affairs (DIA) declined an interview, as did its minister.
Acting deputy secretary of regulatory and identity services John Sneyd said in a statement processes had been established to monitor the situation, and it would continue to engage with the father.
Its role was to implement the Passports Act 1992, which requires a passport to be issued to everyone who is eligible.
"The department can only refuse to issue a passport to a New Zealand citizen where the Act explicitly enables it to do so. In this case and cases like it, a court order that directs the department not to issue a passport to a citizen must be sought."
The problem with that - as the father said he had already found out - was his son would have to be in the country for that order to be made.
"This is why I believe urgent reform to the Passports Act is required, to give DIA the ability and responsibility to act decisively in cases where abduction has already been established by the courts and international authorities."
In a statement, Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden acknowledged it was a distressing situation for the father, who had written to her and DIA.
"I responded to his letter setting out the documentation required for his request and encouraging him to communicate with the department. I am confident that the department is following the requirements set out in the Passport Act 1992 appropriately.
"I have no plans to change the Passport Act."
The father said that position had very real human consequences for people desperate to see their children again.
The last time he saw his son was on shaky, brief video calls after the abduction.
"It hurts a lot. It's affected my mental health a lot - but I am still clear enough to do everything that I can to bring him back to where he belongs. And I do not want him to live as a foreigner over in China when he can live freely in New Zealand, where he can enjoy life."
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