New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at China's ambassador to New Zealand, after the ambassador appeared to reference Peters telling a Green MP to "go back to your own country" in Parliament.
"The Chinese Ambassador's comments have just proven the point I made in the House yesterday. No amount of pearl clutching and faux outrage is going to change it," Peters said in a statement posted to his Facebook account.
"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."
Peters — also Foreign Affairs Minister as noted on his Facebook profile — said New Zealanders should compare the country's democratic institutions, including Parliament, with those of "communist and dictatorship countries."
"If you want to compare what our free democratic country has — in particular our parliament — then go back and see what it's like in those communist and dictatorship countries and look for yourself. I will not resile from that point and New Zealanders should not resile from it.
"If that offends the pearl clutchers and the communist shills labelling it as 'dangerous' — welcome to New Zealand," he said.
'No interest in being dragged into domestic politics'
Ambassador Wang Xiaolong had earlier posted on X in an apparent reference to Peters' comments.
"We have absolutely no interest in being dragged into the domestic politics of other countries," he wrote.
"Suffice it to say, sometimes, a statement says more about the person that makes it than anything or anybody else."
The exchange followed an outburst by Peters in the House on Monday, where he responded to heckling from Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan by saying: "I know you just came 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, all right? This is called democracy. This is called democracy, unlike what you're used to," Peters said.
Xu-Nan was born in Tianjin, China, and has lived in New Zealand since the mid-90s.
Lawrence Xu-Nan has spoken to Breakfast after he was told by Winston Peters to "go back to your own country" in the House yesterday. (Source: Breakfast)
'Scapegoating' migrant communities – Xu-Nan
Speaking to Breakfast the following morning, Xu-Nan said Peters was "scapegoating" migrant communities as a distraction from the Government's record.
"It's a little bit unbelievable to have a Minister for Foreign Affairs, I guess, scapegoating the migrant communities as a distraction to shift the blame away from all of the harm that this government is doing," he said.
"What we want to see is Prime Minister Christopher Luxon actually stepping up and holding his ministers accountable for their behavioural patterns. But so far, we have seen the Prime Minister unwilling to address some of that."
Xu-Nan said New Zealand was "in essence, a welcoming place, and people care for each other."
"I think what we have seen is a sort of imported culture wars where we are looking at exploring the differences again as a distraction, as opposed to looking at the similarities that unite us and joins us together.
"We've seen not just the migrant communities, but all communities here in Aotearoa, New Zealand, doing it really hard these last few years."
"What is really important for I think New Zealanders to remember is the aroha that we do have for each other to address the broader issues like affordable living that we're seeing right now. And this is one of the things that the Green Party is campaigning on this year, going into the election, is what New Zealanders really want."
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in a statement to 1News that Peters had a long track record of "inappropriate attention-seeking comments designed to get the media and other politicians to talk about him instead of the issues Kiwis are facing".
"This is another example of that."
Senior National MP Chris Bishop said Peters' comments were "seriously regrettable".
The remarks followed recent comments labelled "racist" and "crass" from fellow senior NZ First MP Shane Jones, and sexist comments by Napier candidate Stuart Nash, which led to him resigning.
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