Ethnic Affairs Minister Chris Carter says he is pleased Nai Yin Xue has been apprehended and says the capture should bring some closure for Xue's three-year-old daughter Qian Xue and her family.
"I think New Zealanders who became aware of the plight of this little girl after she was abandoned at Melbourne Railway Station in September last year will be relieved at this latest development," he says.
Carter says the Chinese community would be particularly affected by the arrest.
The Prime Minister is also praising the actions of those who caught Xue and tied him up with his own clothes. Helen Clark says a great deal of gratitude is owed to those people and the capture brings tremendous relief for the family and the entire New Zealand community.
Clark says she is very happy with the co-operation police in New Zealand had with US police in tracking Xue down.
"For the family and for our whole Kiwi community this is enormously good news. We now have a very good chance of bringing a very serious offender to justice and it's important that happens," says Clark.
The family of An An Liu say they are thrilled at the developments and are confident justice will be served.
National MP Pansy Wong has liaised between her family and police and says they are keen to put the tragedy behind them and trust the police to do their job.
Qian Xun Xue is now living quietly in China with her maternal grandmother after the Family Court appointed Xiao Ping Liu as the three-year-old's guardian in December.
At the time of his disappearance it also emerged that Xue had
been married before and that he had a daughter, called Grace, from
that marriage. She indicated to ONE News that she might like to see
her father when he is back in New Zealand.
