WELLINGTON: Beijing’s embassy in New Zealand said it had raised an official complaint on Thursday after Foreign Minister Winston Peters told a lawmaker of Chinese descent to “go back to your own country”.
Peters, a populist leader of NZ First party, was asked by China-born Green Party member Lawrence Xu-Nan: “Are you vaccinated?” during a heated debate about New Zealand’s response to the Covid pandemic.
In response, Peters said the lawmaker, who was born in the Chinese city of Tianjin but grew up in New Zealand, had “come here five minutes ago”.
“Go back to your own country. That’s where they lie like a flatfish, but they don’t lie like that here,” Peters said.
“This is called a democracy, unlike what you’re used to. Go back to where you’ve come from, you loudmouth.” The comments sparked a rare intervention from Chinese ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong.
Wang said on X that while he preferred to stay out of domestic politics, “suffice it to say, sometimes, a statement says more about the person that makes it than anything or anybody else”.
Beijing’s embassy in Wellington also said it had lodged a complaint with New Zealand’s foreign ministry over “negative China-related remarks made by a certain politician”.
Peters has doubled down on his remarks. “We live in a democracy that includes free speech and rights -- those two values that other certain countries not only limit, but do so with force,” he said on X.
“If that offends the pearl clutchers and the communist shills labelling it as ‘dangerous’ — welcome to New Zealand.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, whose National Party governs New Zealand in a coalition with NZ First, condemned Peters “inappropriate attention-seeking” comments.
It’s not the first time Winston Peters and his party, seen as kingmakers in New Zealand’s fractured political system, have received criticism for racist comments.
Earlier this year Peters deputy Shane Jones criticised New Zealand’s free trade deal with India as risking a “butter chicken tsunami”.
Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2026