RFA Unplugged

Kiwis, Chinese Clash Over Free Speech

Over the last month a controversy has simmered in the small pacific nation of New Zealand following a state visit by China’s Vice President Xi Jinping in June.

And central to the issue is, at what point does a nation abandon its fundamental values for fear of upsetting a trading partner?

It started with a Tibetan flag. As the Chinese delegation arrived at Parliament they were greeted by Green Party MP Russell Norman,  holding up a Tibetan flag in silence.

Chinese security officials with entourage intervened and tore the flag away and assaulted him. The whole incident was caught on television.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hek4DOTrAYA[/youtube]

New Zealand’s reaction to the incident has been mixed but New Zealand Prime Minister John Key was quick to apologize for Russell Norman’s actions not once but twice, once in New Zealand and last week on a visit to China according to TVNZ.

Key said: “I really don’t think that we should be inviting people to New Zealand at that level of seniority and then not showing them the respect that they can enter and exit a building.”Opposition Leader Phil Goff was not so rueful. He met with the vice premier soon after the altercation and told the New Zealand Herald Newspaper that while he was aware of the incident free speech is a cornerstone of New Zealand’s democracy and Norman, a member of the Green Party, had been entitled to display the flag so long as he posed no physical risk to anyone.

As the footage showed, Norman didn’t appear likely to launch an attack on the vice president or his staff.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully had a different interpretation of free speech, saying it was fine so long as it remained inoffensive.

Key’s reaction was more surprising, since his  mother was Jewish and a survivor of Auschwitz.

The whole incident seemed to worry the New Zealand Government far more than the Chinese, who seemed to take it in stride. But then again, they could afford to.

Norman laid complaints with the Speaker’s office and the New Zealand police but little came of it.

The reality is that New Zealand is a major trading partner with China. It is the first Western nation to have signed a free trade agreement with the emerging superpower although the trade balance currently favors China.