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NZ PM's Chinese apology 'sends wrong signal'

By Michael Dickison | NZ Herald

New Zealand Green Party co-leader Russel Norman displays his Tibetan flag during the arrival of Vice-President Xi JinPing at the country’s parliament on 18 June 2010.File photo/NZ Herald/Mark Mitchell/New Zealand

John Key’s apology to the Chinese government following an MP’s protest “sends the wrong signal”, says a Political Science Professor specialising in Chinese relations.

The Prime Minister apologised to visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s delegation after Green Party co-leader Russel Norman waved a Tibetan flag to the delegation as they arrived at Parliament.

Dr Norman was pushed and the flag pulled from his hands by members of the Chinese delegation, leading him to attest that his freedom of speech had been suppressed.

“I was very surprised to learn that Prime Minister Key had apologised to the Chinese delegation, even before the police enquiry into Mr Norman’s allegations of assault had been completed. This sends the wrong signal, both to the Chinese government and the New Zealand people,” said Canterbury University Political Science Associate Professor Dr Anne-Marie Brady.

Dr Brady’s research has included China’s domestic and foreign policy and New Zealand-China relations.

“Mr Norman’s act of protest was a minor event, which Xi Jinping’s delegation have turned into an international incident,” she said.

Dr Brady said we would never know for sure who should have apologised because Chinese officials refused to co-operate with New Zealand police investigations.

“I don’t think such behavior would be tolerated if a similar situation had occurred in China,” she said.

Both Dr Norman’s protest and Mr Key’s apology have drawn comment from politicians, with Labour Party leader Phil Goff saying the scuffle “should never have happened”.

“We expect people to be respectful to our visitors, but we also retain the right to protest peacefully,” Mr Goff said.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully, meanwhile, called Dr Norman’s protest “massively disappointing” and said it had been calculated to offend.

Dr Norman said Mr Key’s apology was “degrading”, while Mr Key defended it that “it’s unacceptable that a dignitary of that level can’t enter the building without their integrity being compromised”.

Copyright © 2010 APN Holdings NZ Limited

Published in NZ Herald