According to Reuters, on July 29 local time, New Zealand Foreign Minister Peters insulted a Chinese-American member of parliament as a ‘big mouth’ during a parliamentary debate, and threatened to have the person ‘return to her own country’. In response, China communicated its severe protest to New Zealand on the day after.
According to the WeChat public account of the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, on July 30th, a relevant official from the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand expressed solemn protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand regarding some politicians' negative remarks about China in the New Zealand parliament. The official demanded that New Zealand should value the equal and mutually beneficial relationship between China and New Zealand and do more things that are beneficial to bilateral relations, rather than doing the opposite.
Our embassy emphasizes that the vast number of Chinese people in New Zealand abide by local laws and actively integrate into mainstream society, making significant contributions to the economic and social development of New Zealand. Their contributions should be recognized and respected. We call on the New Zealand side to respect and protect their legal rights and interests, and to create an open, inclusive, and non-discriminatory environment for them to study, live, and work in New Zealand.
On that day, Wang Xiaolong, China’s ambassador to New Zealand, also posted on the X website: "We have no intention of getting involved in the domestic politics of other countries. But we want to make one point clear: In many cases, the statements of a person truly reflect that person himself, and not any other person or thing."
According to reports, the person targeted by Peters is Xu Nan, a member of the New Zealand Green Party. Xu Nan was born in Tianjin, China, and moved to New Zealand with his family in 1994. He grew up in Auckland East.
In the parliamentary debate, Peters attacked Xu Nan, saying: "They can lie flat like flatfish over there, but that won’t work here. This is a democratic country, different from where you’re accustomed to. Go back to your own country, you big mouth."
Peters' remarks were criticized by many MPs, and New Zealand Prime Minister John Lecky also accused it of being 'inappropriate and attention-seeking rhetoric'. As a 'National Party leader', Lecky stated in a statement: 'As leaders of our New Zealand Chinese community, both I and the National Party support you. For every New Zealander, we hope that representatives will focus on issues that matter to you, rather than trying to gain cheap headlines by attracting attention.'
Xu Nan said in an interview with a New Zealand television station that Peters is using the immigrant group as scapegoats to divert attention and avoid addressing the problems in the government's policies.
