Wellington  - The New Zealand government has not decided whether to allow exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who China calls a terrorist, into the country next week, Prime Minister John Key said on Monday.

Key told a news conference that Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman would decide whether to grant a visa allowing her to talk to two public meetings within the next few days.

Keith Locke, a member of parliament for the opposition Green Party, has invited Kadeer to visit, and organized meetings in Auckland and Wellington for October 13 and 14.

Beijing objected when Kadeer, who has lived in exile in the United States since being freed from a Chinese prison in 2005, visited Australia in August, but Locke told the New Zealand Herald he did not envisage any problems in her being allowed into New Zealand.

"It is wrong to allow the Chinese, or any government, to tell us who we can or cannot let speak in our country," he said.

"Rebiya Kadeer's visit will allow New Zealanders to learn about the plight of the Uighur people, which was brought to light because of recent events," Locke said.

The Chinese government had branded Kadeer a criminal who masterminded ethnic violence in her home region of Xinjiang, in north-west China, in July, which left nearly 200 dead. She denied being responsible for the violence.

Locke said Beijing accused Kadeer of anti-China separatist activities and objected to the government-backed Maori Television channel screening a documentary about her entitled Ten Conditions of Love last month.

Taiwan last week denied Kadeer a visa for visiting, saying the World Uighur Congress, which she heads, had close links to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a group listed as a terrorist organization by the United States. She flatly rejected that charge, it said.

Locke said China's efforts to stop exiled dissidents from speaking overseas should be condemned.

The Herald said that China cancelled a senior minister's visit to Australia because of Canberra's decision to grant a visa to Kadeer, and former prime minister John Howard linked it to a failed mining deal.

The secretary-general of the United Chinese Associations of New Zealand, Jim He, told the paper he was disappointed at the Green Party's decision to invite Kadeer, but did not think a visit would create as much controversy.

"Emotions were running high when she visited Australia soon after the Xinjiang riots, but the issues are not new any more," he said. (dpa)