Prime Minister John Key has been accused of making a “degrading” apology to a visiting Chinese delegation for the incident outside Parliament on Friday when Green Party co-leader Russel Norman was involved in a scuffle while he was holding up a Tibetan flag.
He was waving the flag when Chinese vice-president Xi Jinping arrived, and members of the Chinese delegation tried to put an umbrella over him to hide it.
Dr Norman was pushed and the flag was pulled from his hands. He managed to retrieve it and loudly told the Chinese delegation they could not suppress freedom of speech in New Zealand.
A spokesman for Mr Key, who is in South Africa, confirmed today that the prime minister had called a senior member of the delegation and had apologised for the incident.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Murray McCully criticised Dr Norman for staging the protest and said the incident was “massively disappointing”.
Mr McCully said it had been calculated to give offence.
“What I’m saying is that Dr Norman shouldn’t have actually been in that situation in the first place, if he had shown good judgment and if he had put New Zealand’s interests to the fore,” he said.
Dr Norman said Mr Key’s apology sent the wrong message.
“The prime minister should explain exactly what he told the Chinese trade contingent following the incident,” Dr Norman said in a statement today.
“It is degrading for the prime minister of New Zealand to apologise for Chinese security guards assaulting a New Zealand elected representative on New Zealand’s parliamentary grounds.”
Dr Norman called on Mr Key to stand up for free speech and democracy.
“Does John Key consider that holding a Tibetan flag exceeds the boundaries of freedom of speech?” he said.
Dr Norman also said Mr Key should tell the public whether human rights were raised during the talks between the two governments.
Dr Norman complained to the police after the incident but they said there was insufficient evidence to substantiate an allegation of assault.
The Green Party co-leader has also complained to Parliament’s Speaker, Lockwood Smith.
He released today a letter he has sent to Dr Smith asking for assurances that New Zealand security services would in future control Parliament’s forecourt during official visits, and that important visitors were told about the right of free speech in New Zealand.
Dr Norman said the Chinese Foreign Ministry had released a statement on an government-authorised website reporting Mr Key’s apology for the protest, but without mentioning that a Member of Parliament holding a Tibetan flag was involved.
