New Zealand diplomats to skip Beijing Olympics

At a press conference in Wellington, Robertson cited COVID-19 as the reason.

The comments came after the United States said this week that it would not send government officials to the 2022 Winter Olympics due to China's human rights "atrocities".

"We've already made clear that we won't be there at a ministerial level," Robertson said. "There was a range of factors but mostly to do with COVID, and the fact that the logistics of travel and so on around COVID are not conducive to that kind of trip."

Robertson added that New Zealand's decision was communicated to China in October.