DOUBLING DOWN:
Peters’ deputy said that a deal with India risked a ‘butter chicken tsunami,’ and the deputy yelled ‘send the Mexicans home’ in another incident
Beijing’s embassy in New Zealand yesterday said it had raised an official complaint after New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters told a lawmaker of Chinese descent to “go back to your own country.” Populist NZ First leader Peters was asked by China-born Green Party member Lawrence Xu-Nan (南西): “Are you vaccinated?” during a heated debate about New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday. In response, Peters said the lawmaker, who was born in Tianjin, China, but grew up in New Zealand, had “come here five minutes ago.”
New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters attends the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Pasay, Metro Manila, on Thursday last week.
“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 (王小龍).
