NZ politician under fire for insults against China

By Zhang Lulu
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, August 12, 2014
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A New Zealand politician is currently under fire for his racist remarks targeting Chinese people.

Winston Peters, the leader and founder of New Zealand First, a political party in the country, said "Two Wongs don't make a white" in a campaign speech last Sunday, according to New Zealand media.

While Peters said it was a joke and refused to apologize for it, the remark has sparked a wave of criticism among New Zealand politicians and the Chinese community there.

New Zealand's ACT Party leader Dr Jamie Whyte condemned the remarks as "shameful," and recalled that the phrase was first raised by an Australian politician, Arthur Calwell, who was a staunch defender of the "White Australia" immigration policy which notoriously favored Western immigrants over their Eastern counterparts.

"Mr. Peters is an experienced Australasian politician. He must be aware of Calwell and his xenophobic policies. Repeating an even less amusing version of his joke is shameful." Whyte said.

Steven Young, former president of the New Zealand Chinese Association told New Zealand news agency NZ Newswire that "It's a very old schoolyard joke that's more suited to seven and eight year olds rather than a mature statesman who, in the past, has acted as a foreign minister dealing with China as our main trading partner."

An opinion poll on the New Zealand Herald website shows that 35 percent of the 5,550 to 5,600 voters found Peters' remark "offensive."

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key told the country's government-run television TVNZ that Winston Peters was being provocative to draw attention in the run-up to the nation's general election on September 20 this year.

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