for allegedly leaving the Five Eyes club, the Chinese Global Times praised New Zealand for putting its own national interests over the Five Eyes. During a visit by Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne on 22 April 2021, Mahuta discussed the issue of New Zealand deportees from Australia, the ISIL bride Suhayra Aden and the two government's differing approaches towards China. On 11 May 2021, Mahuta called on Israel to stop evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem and for "both sides to halt steps which undermine prospects for a two state solution". Following the 2021 Hong Kong legislative election held on 19 December 2021, Foreign Minister Mahuta joined other Five Eyes foreign ministers issuing a joint statement criticising the exclusion of opposition candidates and urging China to respect human rights and freedoms in Hong Kong in accordance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration. In response, the Chinese Embassy in Wellington issued a statement claiming the election was "politically inclusive and fair" and urged the Five Eyes alliance to respect Chinese sovereignty over Hong Kong. 2022 In late January 2022, Mahuta reaffirmed the New Zealand Government's support for Ukraine in response to the Russian military build-up on the Russo-Ukrainian border and urged Russian to reduce tensions in accordance with international law. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine in mid February 2022, Mahuta and Ardern joined New Zealand's Western allies in condemning Russian actions against Ukraine. As Foreign Minister, Mahuta introduced the Russia Sanctions Act 2022, which imposed various sanctions targeting Russian elites and assets deemed to be complicit in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The bill passed into law on 9 March 2022 with unanimous support from all members of the New Zealand Parliament. In mid-June 2022, Mahuta hosted Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong during her first state visit to New Zealand. The two Foreign Ministers reaffirmed bilateral cooperation in the areas of climate change, indigenous, and Indo-Pacific issues. The opposition ACT Party's foreign affairs spokeperson Brooke Van Velden criticised Mahuta's few international trips during her tenure as Foreign Minister, suggesting that Mahuta was preoccupied with the Three Waters reform programme. By comparison, her Australian counterpart Wong had undertaken a "grand tour" of the Pacific Islands following the election of the Albanese government in late May 2022 to counter recent Chinese diplomatic engagement in the region including a bilateral security agreement with the Solomon Islands. In early