Written By:
- Date published:
4:18 pm, August 1st, 2026 - 22 comments
Categories: China, Donald Trump, Iran, nz first, us politics, winston peters -
Tags: brics, empire, Lawrence Xu-Nan, oecd, USA
Reproduced with permission from Local Bodies.
China has more high speed trains than the rest of the world put together, the US has none. Winston Peters’ attack against Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan because of his Chinese heritage almost created a diplomatic furore. If it wasn’t for the mature restraint from the Chinese to not react to the highly charged racist rhetoric from our Foreign Minister, it could have had an economic impact.
I think this is an opportunity to appreciate how the world order is changing and how our once strong connection to the US is becoming increasingly untenable.
Most of us have been brought up to feel that New Zealand is part of the ‘developed world’ (largely culturally western) and the rest of the world was full of the ‘developing nations’ that we felt a paternalistic need to support to eventually become as good as us. This feeling of cultural and economic superiority also has its roots the colonising culture many of our ancestors brought with them to NZ.
I think we need to have our complacency challenged by global realities. The British Empire ended soon after WW2 and the US Empire has been imploding since Japan, and then China, have steadily grown as trading nations and globally influential economies. India has also become a major global technology force.
Most of our perception of what is happening in the world is highly blinkered and narrowed to those countries where we feel a cultural affinity. In our MSM news the times we see or hear anything about those developing countries is when they experience some kind of disaster or are engulfed in a war. We see little about their economic growth.
The ‘western world’ economic alliance, or the OECD, is what we use for benchmarks of economic success or educational progress and yet the member countries only make up 17% of the world’s population.
Many of those so called developing nations have been steadily developing under our noses, but largely unseen. Their major economies (including Brazil, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Russia) formed their own economic Alliance called BRICS. This alliance captures 54% of the global population, over 3x more than the OECD.
Currently BRICS produces 44% of global GDP and the OECD 46%. The OECD slight dominance will soon be lost.
The US was the dominant western/global power but is now a dying empire. China has already surpassed the US for purchasing power and is essentially the largest economy in the world. Only 1% of Chinese currently live in poverty, while it is 11.5% in the US.
The productive capacity of China’s 1.4 billion people, with highly functioning infrastructure is massive. The US is experiencing growing poverty, failing infrastructure and an education system that is ranked only 31st in the world. Thanks to Trump the US has lost its global influence and it is making China look more like the diplomatic grownup.
Obviously China has its own democracy/human rights issues but the US is currently incarcerating people based on ethnicity at a much higher rate than China. When China has an imprisonment rate of 119 people per 100,000 and the US has 542 per 100,000, it does make one question the reality of individual freedoms in both countries.
We have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China and 25% ($23 Billion) our exports go there. We don’t have a FTA with the US and it only takes 12% ($9 billion) of our exports. Trump recently introduced new tariffs against us.
Iran is a member of BRICS and is the 4th largest producer of oil in the world. Historically Western economies have wanted to capture that oil for themselves and in 1953 the CIA and British Intelligence orchestrated a coup which overthrew the elected Prime Minister to regain control of Iran’s nationalised oil industry. The US and its western allies have been interfering in and disrupting Middle East politics for many decades for their own economic interests. The rise of radical Islamic Governments have only occurred in the Middle East because of Western interference.
Trump’s ignorance in thinking that he could easily crush Iran and change the government, like he did in Venezuela, destroyed what little global credibility the US had. Nato abandoned him and over half the world see the US as the aggressor in just the same way as we see Russia as the aggressor against Ukraine. Trump cannot win a war against Iran because he isn’t just fighting one country he is actually up against all of BRICS who definitely don’t want IRAN’s oil to go west and see the US attack as the unlawful act that it is.
So this brings me back to Winston Peters’ ill judged attack on Lawrence Xu-Nan. Winston’s political instincts come from an era that has been well and truly surpassed by a new reality. His party’s embrace of the Trump’s MAGA movement is actually aligning itself with the death throes of a dying empire. Our PM’s initial reaction to the US war against Iran was one of total support.
New Zealand needs to have independent foreign policy and a wider diplomatic approach to how we engage with the world. The western world view is no longer dominant and with far-right populism spreading across Europe, claiming moral superiority is hard to defend.
Our future is best assured if we have more Lawrences in our government and ensure that NZ First quickly becomes a historic relic of our political past.
It is the quality of our global relationships that will best support our future security, not a $9 billion spend on our military and strengthening our alliance with the US.
At last, someone with the intellectual courage to provide rambling answers to questions absolutely nobody was asking…
We should be able to agree that racism and questioning someone's loyalty because of their ethnicity is wrong, full stop.
If Winston Peters' comments crossed that line, then criticise them on those merits. Likewise, if the criticism is that his short-sighted politics have jeopardised our relationship with one of our major trading partners, then there's a perfectly reasonable argument there too. Or that, as Foreign Minister, he should be more careful than most about how his political commentary shapes perceptions of New Zealand overseas. Fill your boots.
But turning this entire affair into yet another interminable screed about BRICS, Iran, the decline of the West, and American imperialism doesn't do anything except try to turn it into a moral play that nobody wants to watch.
Whether the US has made serious foreign policy mistakes over the decades is a separate debate. It has no bearing on whether it is acceptable to attack a New Zealand MP because of their heritage. Neither does China's economic rise make ethnic suspicion any more or less acceptable.
We can probably just stop at Winston Peters being stupid and wrong without trying to shoehorn it into a breathless narrative about the collapse of Western hegemony.
I'd say that "collapse of Western hegemony" is more about the diffusion of technology out of the "Western hegemony" and the Russian empire to other states. It increases economic resilience as well as economic sizes. It flows into conflicts and and widespread message telling bypassing controllable channels. However it happens, the effects are present in the current world.
Problem with Winston Peters is that he simply doesn't appear to understand the effect of technology, not only in the military or economic sense. But also that information flows faster and more widely world wide than it did when he was still playing rugby. He still acts as if this was the 1970s or 80s.
It isn't "… a moral play that nobody wants to watch." It is the current reality, has little to do with ideology or morality or whatever dumbarse label you care to place on it as a substitution for thinking.
Frankly I'm more concerned with the resumption of empire power politics and the effect that is going to have on widespread climate change issues.
Winston Peters is just another example of people who are still living their lives in the last century and not looking forward to what is happening in the next quarter of this century. For that matter, looking backward probably describes you as well.
I traveled Eurostar St Pancras to Gare du Nord, and TGV Gare de Lyon to Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
Greatest train journeys I have ever done. Europe, Japan, China all do this service but the US does not. It is certainly a question I am asking.
Not that I'd go to the US, it’s a shithole.
You've hit that nail on the head, RP.
I'm solely responsible for the excerpt on this post. I hope that Winston and any NZ First people enjoy my unvarnished opinion.
As I pointed out to Dave, the only point of disagreement with his post was that China is just as much of a empire as the US or Russia currently are, and that previous long lived empires like British, French, Roman, Holy Roman, etc were.
The modern Chinese state was built out of a conglomeration of smaller states welded into empire from 7 kingdoms, then 4, then one. It not only had a territorial component, it historically also had a massive influence on what were effectively semi-client states where it operated divide and control tactics of empire. Something that it is currently reproducing in several near by states.
Personally I don't like empires of any kind. Historically they tend towards instability and various kinds of obnoxious aggression – which often has some very long-lasting effects.
The idiotic 1953 coup in Iran by CIA operatives is only matched the stupidity of the idiots in Israel and the Pentagon thinking that they could try a decapitation strike without a long-term persistent conflict. Especially after looking at Russia doing exactly the same stupidity against Ukraine in 2014 and 2022.
The hubris of previous would-be emperors and that of the current pretenders of Putin and Trump and their sycophantic advisers is characteristic of breed. Crazy, pointless, and usually ineffective without the clear usable technological and logistical advantage as was present in previous centuries.
This continuing political black and white is so unsophisticated as to be silly.
New Zealand doesn't have super-fast trains and nor will it ever.
New Zealand is an unsophisticated low wage high dependency economy, which needs capital, innovation and expertise from the partners it has: Australia, Japan, China, Singapore and of course USA.
We can't do without any of them.
New Zealand will not as far as the economic eye can see be able to isolate itself from the US economy.
Peters has also attacked India and its exceptionally nationalist PM Modi and our unratified FTA agreement.
India is a nuclear armed power beset by poverty, worker oppression in cheap agriculture and itinerant labour, low worker productivity, disgusting inequality, and gross environmental degradation.
Yet both sides of Parliament are uniting for it, apart from Peters’ party.
It's more interesting to ask: why does NZFirst remain on the rise for 15-17% of the next Parliament?
Meantime let's just stop this China-eclipses-everything nonsense.
Same as usual, he dog-whistles a coalition of mostly single-issue voters together by vaguely promising to fix things that they're pissed about. Doesn't do much if put into power apart from some hand-waving. Blames his coalition partners for holding him back. Hopes that his swing voter audience doesn't dissipate by election day. This isn’t exactly news – it is what NZ First always does.
Problem with polling3 months out from an election is that it is pretty friable and tends to dissipate closer to the election – often from 'support' not actually voting (or in this case finding that they aren't enrolled on election day).
What is going to be interesting is if he has managed to renew his actual base of voters. We probably won't see that until after the election results show up. But I'd expect that what polls currently say for NZ First won't be close to what happens in the polling booth.
Act run the same kind of strategy targeting single issue swing voters. But their organization has been less chaotic over the last decade, and they seem to be building a more persistent voting base.
Just thought about the meanings conveyed by CoC – could one or two here apply:
Certificate of Compliance, No
Crisis of Criteria, Yes
Coalition of the Callous, Yes
Creator of Crises, Yes
and Clueless Combination of Clowns, Yes.
The correct answer to my question about the group of titles is No. And why, because 4 were applicable not one or two? That is the sneaky roundabout shrinking from facts and truth that the gummint (the one with the hole in the middle) applies to everything. Wily coyotes!
Luxon introduced the CoC acronym pointing to a probable Labour mess if the left rose to the throne; according to AI Overview:
In New Zealand politics, CoC most notably stands for "Coalition of Chaos." It is a pejorative political shorthand and media term popularized during the 2023 general election by National Party leader Christopher Luxon to criticize a potential left-wing alliance.
The post seems to play down the fact that Winston Peters is a nasty lying racist dinosaur*. Look at his about-turn on Covid (just to get votes) for instance.
I say yet again that Hipkins should rule NZF out. It would be better to be out of government rather than sell your soul to these guys.
*and BTW so is Shane Jones…look at his about-turn on mining.
BG the Greens haven't ruled out a coalition with NZFirst either.
Ha!
Ha ha ha ha ha!!
Good one, Ad!
True but.
Then Chloe/Marama and Chippy should share a platform and rule out working with Winston and his Trumpist acolytes in any shape or form.
In the post above there is mention of a possible furore. I know how to produce one of those – stop any politician from being voted in if over 65, and do not allow one to serve? longer than 3 terms and then not be on a list either. The line of 65-66 should mean that no-one over 70 is in Parliament. But doesn't stop them from being contractors so doesn't mean complete absence of them. But let someone else younger have a go eh!
Step back you old pollies and make your own way in life and old age, and if you can find a place in corporate welfare, like Jenny Shipley to name just one, then that's your luck. But bye-bye the self-serving. we in Nelson and Auckland enjoy the lingering fragrance of the hardy plants surviving all vicissitudes, and visionary, some vicious!
84 year old being wheeled into Senate or somewhere political in USA. My point about age above!
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/us/why-mitch-mcconnell-isnt-giving-up-his-senate-seat.html
Someone once said;
"Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command your old road is rapidly aging
Please get out the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'"
B. Dylan.
Time and time again, I pause and realise that at my age this song is no longer a rallying cry for me and my contemporaries. It is a message to basically get out of the way.
Also, I think the way the US persists with serifed typeface for govt and private sector headline use is another sign of a dying empire. That shit was in fashion during the USA's peak 100 years ago.
Peters craves matyrdumb.
Latest rant (word for word below) from WP today regards news coverage of new train stations opening in Auckland. I cannot think of a government ministers rant which has been so pathetic and childish as this, borders on trump level.
The OneNews coverage tonight of the opening of the new Drury and Paerata rail stations was a total disgrace. A five minute story and not one mention of the fact that these were opened with a speech, presentation, interview, and with two Ministers from government present. No mention of the $450 million of taxpayers money that funded it, nor the fact that KiwiRail built them. Both the Herald and RNZ accurately covered this story but TVNZ has deliberately left all of that out. This is just more evidence that some media outlets attempt to shutdown any good news story that doesn’t suit their biased narrative.
My message to Peters, apologies if this offends anyone (other than peters), was to tell him to piss off, stop being so pathetic and who cares if he gets media coverage or not. he is there to serve the people not worry about getting on tv.
Have we now descended to such pathetic tantrum level politics in this country
Thanks to Iprent for publishing my post. For those critical of my stance after Winston's own goal, I did share a reaction more in keeping with what many seem to feel was more appropriate:
"Winston Peters and Shane Jones are actively promoting the idea that some New Zealanders should have greater rights than other New Zealand citizens and some nationalities are inferior to them.
This is pure racism of the worst kind and enables their supporters to repeat the same behaviour in their communities.
The first Chinese settler arrived in NZ in 1842 and 330,000 people with Chinese heritage live here now, many for five or more generations. They have contributed a great deal to our country over the 184 years they have lived here.
China is our most important trading partner and to insult all Chinese as liars while holding the position of Foreign Minister is unbelievably ignorant.
I thought the Chinese Ambassador's response showed much more diplomacy than Winston Peters deserved, but was very effective:
"We have absolutely no interest in being dragged into the domestic politics of other countries… sometimes, a statement says more about the person that makes it than anything or anybody else."
To top it all Lawrence Xu-Nan has been recognised by political journalists as one of the hardest working MPs in the house. He has made more speeches than any other MP, mainly regarding bills before the house and suggesting amendments. He co-led the Green Party policy work for many years and his deep understanding of issues across many sectors is an asset in helping form robust law.
Neither Winston Peters nor Shane Jones have nearly the same work ethic as Lawrence to make New Zealand a better place for all New Zealanders. Someone who has chosen to call NZ their home should not be considered as having less rights than those who were born here. In fact, those who have chosen to live here appreciate what we have and want to preserve it more than than those who have always lived here and take it for granted."
However, I also felt that there is an underlying issue here about the change in the world order that our Foreign Minister hasn't cottoned on to. None of the governing parties can seem to be aware the the OECD's global influence is waning.
I don't agree that we should discriminate against older politicians as greywarshark suggests. Jeremy Corbyn is 77 and Bernie Sanders is 84 and both are still highly regarded by the left in their respective countries. One of the most successful presidents was José Mujica who was elected when he was 75 and finished his term when he was 80. His socialist policies lifted Uruguay to become one of the most equitable and economically successful countries in South America. His modest lifestyle would put our current government to shame. Nelson Mandela became President when he was 76.
Hi there Dave. You may recall us having a conversation or 2 during my 2nd stint in the GP a few years back. I agree with your sentiment here: "I think we need to have our complacency challenged by global realities." I felt that very strongly as a teenage rebel in the 1960s. We are now cosmopolitan but still old neocolonial crap lingers.
You may like to check out this notable Chinese pioneer: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/chew-chong/
I've now been back in New Plymouth a decade. Murray Chong has long been on our local council but unfortunately he's ultraconservative, perhaps in deference to his great-grandad… https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/63927119/chong-cleans-up-famous-relatives-gravesite
"Most of our perception of what is happening in the world is highly blinkered and narrowed to those countries where we feel a cultural affinity."
He says that like it's a bad thing. The "cultural affinity" that we have with Japan, South Korea, Singapore or Taiwan but don't have with China or Iran isn't because we're "highly blinkered," it's for a different reason that ought to be obvious but apparently isn't to some people. That won't change regardless of how many high-speed trains or electric cars China builds.
Human rights? Democracy? Non-aggression?
Once upon a time the USA at least paid lip service to those principles.
Meanwhile Winston is busy fostering fascism.
Western "democracies" are returning to the baseline of brutal capitalism, red in tooth and claw, after the brief inconvenience of the New Deal and a bit of socialism that was needed to rebuild western Europe after two world wars.