New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters has drawn criticism from China's ambassador after telling a lawmaker of Chinese descent to "go back to your own country" during a parliamentary debate.
The exchange took place on Wednesday during a discussion on New Zealand's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when China-born Green Party lawmaker Lawrence Xu-Nan asked Peters, leader of the populist NZ First party, whether he had been vaccinated.
Peters responded by saying Xu-Nan 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 remarks prompted a rare response from Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong, who wrote on X on Thursday that while he preferred to stay out of domestic politics, "sometimes, a statement says more about the person that makes it than anything or anybody else."
Peters rejected the criticism, saying Wang's comments had "proven my point."
"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 wrote on X.
"If that offends the pearl clutchers and the communist shills labelling it as 'dangerous' — welcome to New Zealand."
Previous controversies
It is not the first time Peters and his party, often seen as kingmakers in New Zealand's coalition politics, have faced criticism over remarks widely condemned as racist.
Earlier this year, Deputy Prime Minister Shane Jones said New Zealand's free trade deal with India risked triggering a "butter chicken tsunami."
Last year, Peters and Jones came under fire after Jones shouted "send the Mexicans home" at opposition lawmaker Francisco Hernandez during a parliamentary debate.
Peters later told Hernandez, who was born in the Philippines, and Xu-Nan to "show some gratitude" for living in New Zealand.
