New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ racist remarks, in which he told a lawmaker of Chinese descent to “go back to your own country,” have drawn criticism from netizens and invoked a response from the Chinese ambassador to New Zealand. The ambassador stated on Thursday that “a statement says more about the person who makes it than anything or anybody else.”
During a debate about New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday, populist NZ First leader Peters was asked by China-born Green Party member Lawrence Xu-Nan: “Are you vaccinated?” per AFP.
In response, Peters said the lawmaker, who was born in the Chinese city of Tianjin but grew up in Auckland, had “come here five minutes ago,” AFP reported.
Peters launched a tirade against Xu-Nan, rudely claiming “Go back to your own country. That’s where they lie like a flatfish, but they don’t lie like that here.”
“This is called a democracy, unlike what you’re used to. Go back to where you’ve come from, you loudmouth,” he said.
After Peters made such remarks, China’s ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong wrote on his X account on Thursday that “We have absolutely no interest in being dragged into the domestic politics of other countries. Suffice it to say, sometimes, a statement says more about the person that makes it than anything or anybody else.”
The New Zealand foreign minister’s remarks also drew ire from netizens. “When they resort to such crude racist attacks and hurl insults in parliament, the democratic system they claim to uphold has already lost,” a Chinese netizen under the name of wotinghaoqi wrote on Sina Weibo on Thursday.
An X user, tagging New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, wrote, “In any other workplace environment, Peters’ comments would have led to extreme censure, if not dismissal. What are you going to do about this embarrassment, if not downright danger, of a Foreign Minister, Mr Luxon?”
As the leader of the New Zealand First party, Peters has consistently championed issues such as “New Zealanders first” and tighter immigration controls, using identity politics to appeal to voters and deepen divisions between “us” and “them,” Chen Hong, director of New Zealand Studies Centre, East China Normal University, told the Global Times.
He said the foreign minister’s remarks had turned a policy debate into an identity-based attack, and that such a move could appeal to some conservative and nationalist voters. While such tactics may generate attention in the short term, they risk further deepening social divisions in the long run, he noted.
It is not the first time Peters has been embroiled in controversy over racist comments.
In 2025, Peters and his deputy, Shane Jones, were forced to back down after the deputy yelled “send the Mexicans home” at Mexican-born MP Francisco Hernandez during a debate, according to AFP.
Peters followed up that comment by telling Hernandez and Xu-Nan to “show some gratitude” for being in New Zealand.
Chen emphasized that Peters’ racist remarks have exposed the lingering undercurrents of xenophobia and racism in New Zealand’s political circle, despite the country’s long-standing promotion of diversity and tolerance. He said that, as New Zealand heads into an election year, anti-foreigner sentiments and doubts over the identity of Asian communities, particularly Chinese people, tend to resurface whenever political, economic and social pressures mount, especially amid heightened political competition.
