Wow.
I mean.
Wow.
David Seymour has just gone where few NZ Politicians dare to ever go – he just criticised China!
Stop interfering in NZ’s internal affairs: Act Party Leader to Chinese Consulate General
Act Party leader David Seymour has sent a strongly worded letter to the China Consulate General in Auckland, accusing it of interfering with New Zealand’s internal affairs.
The Consul General released a public statement last week condemning Hong Kong democracy protests at the University of Auckland and praised students who confronted protesters for their “spontaneous patriotism”.
Seymour also noted reports that the Consulate General had also written to the Vice-Chancellor of AUT University asking that commemoration of the Tiananmen Square protests not go ahead.
This is righteous! I’m no fan of David Seymour, but I have to say, this extraordinary political courage – to actually criticise China attempting to meddle in our internal affairs, and the manner in which he guided the Euthanasia Bill through has made me see Seymour in a different light.
While I am utterly opposed to the original Euthanasia Bill, he has refined it to a point I believe I could accept, and he did that with real skill and diplomacy.
That leadership over the Euthanasia Bill coupled with this new spine in standing up to China means I think he could rebuild the ACT brand.
Well played Mr Seymour. Well played.
Is it really strong political courage or is it an act for someone desperate to get back into parliament
The former, he’s always been the only candidate to put both National AND Labour in their place, plus he’s already in parliament and was put there by Epsom, either way does it matter? This is an important subject that needs to be brought up!
David Seymour’s recent challenge to the NZ Chinese Consulate General regarding China’s interference in NZ is a bold move indeed, for any politician to make!
Although I am definitely not an ACT supporter, never will be, I do support Seymour’s action in this instance. China seems to be manoeuvring its way into NZ’s internal affairs, as it is throughout the Pacific, points which cannot be ignored.
The recent fine tuning and clarification of the terms of Seymour’s Euthanasia Bill, has my support. It’s past form presented too many grey areas for my liking, leaving gaps open for abuse.
The Chinese Consulate’s response to Seymour’s communication should be at the very least, interesting! I guess the directive for that will come from the hierarchy in mainland China.
The Chinese may well ask David who ??????
It’s not very bold when you have no political power and will suffer no consequences for speaking out. DS said this precisely because there will be no blowback.
Amazing, it does seem to be a bold move by Seymore. Maybe it’s curtains if ACT doesn’t drum up some differentiation and not all Chinese agree with the mainland Chinese government. Very well played.
He seems like a decent guy but for some reason he cant just connect…maybe he needs to pitch Act as the party to keep National honest
David Seymour is the MP for Epsom. In the 2013 census, 57 per cent of the electorate was Asian, and a big chunk of that are Chinese. So he may well encounter some blowback from those of his constituents who don’t like the Chinese govt being criticised.
And whether you like his politics or not, Seymour is a highly principled man. He turned down an offer of a ministerial position from John Key because he didn’t want to abandon his End of Life Choice Bill, which he would have been obliged to do.
Critics like to pass him off as a dope or a wally, but as Martyn says, he has shepherded the assisted dying bill through Parliament carefully and thoughtfully and with regard to the concerns of its critics.
He’s far smarter than many like to give him credit for but he doesn’t take himself too seriously, as his turn on DWTS showed.
He is the only MP in Parliament I can think of who robustly defends free speech. I have never voted for Act but I think Parliament would be a much poorer place without him.
Comments are closed.