New Zealand racism row sparks diplomatic spat

Beijing has lodged a protest after Wellington’s top diplomat told a Chinese-born MP to “go back to your own country” Beijing has lodged an official protest with New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry over controversial remarks made by the country’s top diplomat, Winston Peters, to a Chinese-born MP during a heated parliamentary exchange.The Chinese Embassy in Wellington made the announcement on Thursday, a day after the event, citing “negative China-related remarks.”On Wednesday, during debate on the country’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, Peters, founder and leader of the right-wing populist NZ First party, was asked by China-born Green Party MP Lawrence Xu-Nan whether he had been vaccinated.In response, Peters alleged that the lawmaker, who was born in the Chinese city of Tianjin but grew up in New Zealand, had “come 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,” Peters said. “This is called a democracy, unlike what you’re used to. Go back to where you’ve come from, you loudmouth.”The incident also prompted a rare public intervention by China’s ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong, who said on X th...