Winston Peters, New Zealand's foreign minister, made controversial remarks in parliament targeting Green Party MP Lawrence Xu-Nan, accusing him of being a recent arrival. Peters told Xu-Nan, 'Go back to where you've come from, you loudmouth' during a heated exchange over New Zealand's response to the pandemic.
Xu-Nan, born in Tianjin but raised in New Zealand, questioned Peters on whether he had been vaccinated. Peters' comments stirred immediate backlash, with Xu-Nan later expressing disbelief at a foreign minister using migrant communities as scapegoats to deflect criticism of the government's performance.
China's ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong, made a rare public intervention, criticizing Peters' remarks. The Chinese embassy filed a formal complaint with New Zealand's foreign ministry over what it called 'negative China-related remarks'. Wang said on X that the statement revealed more about the speaker than the subject.
Peters Defends His Words
Peters has not retracted his comments, claiming they were in defense of democratic freedoms. 'We live in a democracy that includes free speech and rights,' he wrote on X, vowing not to back down. New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, however, called Peters' behavior 'inappropriate attention-seeking'.
Pattern of Racially Charged Remarks
This is not the first time Peters or his party has drawn criticism for offensive language. Mexico's ambassador, Alfredo Pérez Bravo, officially raised the issue through diplomatic channels rather than in public.
Peters later distanced himself from Jones' remarks, admitting they 'may have been expressed differently' in the heat of the moment. The pattern of contentious rhetoric from NZ First lawmakers has now drawn direct diplomatic responses from China and Mexico.
The issue remains unresolved, with Peters standing by his position and the Chinese complaint signaling a shift toward more direct diplomatic confrontation. For New Zealand, the tension shows how domestic rhetoric can escalate into international disputes, testing the government's unity and foreign policy footing.