TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A delegation from Taiwan attended the coronation of the new queen of New Zealand’s Maori population, reports said Saturday (Sept. 7).

Nga Wai Hono i te po Paki, 27, was chosen to head the Maori after her father, Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, passed away on Aug. 30 at the age of 69.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent Taiwan’s representative in New Zealand Joanne Ou (歐江安), the head of Taiwan’s office in Auckland Kendra Chen (陳詠韶), and Indigenous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) to attend the Sept. 4-5 ceremonies. They passed on congratulations and best wishes from the government to the new monarch’s office.

The queen had visited Taiwan in the company of her father, the foreign ministry said. The late king received surgery for leg ailments at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital in 2017, per CNA.

While Taiwan and New Zealand do not maintain official diplomatic relations, both are members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. New Zealand is also one of 18 nations targeted for closer ties by Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy.