New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters has sparked a diplomatic row after telling a China-born Green Party lawmaker, Lawrence Xu-Nan, to "go back to your own country" during a parliamentary debate about the Covid pandemic on Wednesday. The remark drew an unusual public rebuke from China's ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong, who posted on X that such statements say more about the person making them than anyone else — prompting Peters to fire back by defending New Zealand's democratic values and accusing Beijing of suppressing free speech. The incident highlights a pattern of controversy surrounding Peters and his NZ First party, which has previously faced criticism over remarks targeting Indian, Mexican, and Chinese-born MPs.