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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has criticised coalition partner Winston Peters for making "inappropriate attention-seeking comments" after the Foreign Minister told a Chinese-born New Zealand MP to "go back to your own country".
Luxon used the occasion to urge voters to support his party, National, saying he backs Chinese New Zealanders.
The comments follow pointed remarks from Chinese ambassador Wang Xiaolong in response to Peters' insult.
Peters launched his attack during Parliament's general debate on Wednesday after being heckled by Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan.
In response, Peters told Xu-Nan to "go back to where you've come from, you loudmouth".
"This is called a democracy, unlike what you're used to," he said.
Peters also accused China of lying "like a flatfish".
Xu-Nan was born in China but moved to New Zealand as a child in 1994.
Approached for comment, a spokesperson for Luxon issued a statement in his role as National Party leader on Thursday.
"Winston Peters has a long track record of inappropriate attention-seeking comments designed to get the media and other politicians to talk about him instead of the issues Kiwis are facing. This is another example of that," Luxon said.
"To our Kiwi-Chinese community, National and I back you, and to every New Zealander who wants representatives focused on the issues that matter to you, rather than attention-seeking for cheap headlines, Party Vote National."
Peters has not resiled from his initial remarks, instead doubling-down and engaging in a back-and-forth with China's ambassador on Thursday.
Wang published a post on X on Thursday morning, writing: "We have absolutely no interest in being dragged into the domestic politics of other countries.
"Suffice it to say, sometimes, a statement says more about the person that makes it than anything or anybody else."
In a social media post in response, Peters decried the "pearl clutching and faux outrage" and said Wang's comment simply proved the point he had made in Parliament.
"We live in a democracy that includes free speech and rights - those two values that other certain countries not only limit, but do so with force.
"If you want to compare what our free democratic country has - in particular our parliament - then go back and see what it's like in those communist and dictatorship countries and look for yourself."
Peters concluded his message: "If that offends the pearl clutchers and the communist shills labelling it as 'dangerous' - welcome to New Zealand."
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark also weighed in on X late on Wednesday, describing Peters' comments as a "dangerous way" to refer to New Zealand's largest trade partner.
Speaking on TVNZ's Breakfast programme on Thursday, Xu-Nan described Peters' comments as a "desperate attempt to distract" from the coalition's record.
"It's a little bit unbelievable to have a Minister for Foreign Affairs, I guess, scapegoating the migrant communities as a distraction to shift the blame away from all of the harm that this government is doing.
"What we want to see is Prime Minister Christopher Luxon actually stepping up and holding his ministers accountable for their behavioural patterns."
