Lawrence Xu-Nan

Lawrence Xu-Nan
MP
南西
Xu-Nan in 2026
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Green party list
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 March 2024 (2024-03-06)
Preceded byEfeso Collins[n 1]
Personal details
Born1985 or 1986 (age 40 or 41)
Tianjin, China
CitizenshipNew Zealand
PartyGreen
ProfessionEgyptologist
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Auckland
ThesisDefining the Inaros tradition: an interdisciplinary approach (2017)
Anthony Spalinger
Academic work
DisciplineAncient history
Sub-discipline
Egyptology

Lawrence Xi Xu-Nan (Chinese: 南西; pinyin: Nán Xī) (born 12 December[n 2] 1985 or 1986) is a New Zealand politician and member of parliament in the New Zealand House of Representatives for the Green Party.

Early life

Lawrence Xi Xu-Nan was born in Tianjin, China, with his ancestral home in Shandong. His family name is jointly taken from his father's, Xu, and his mother's, Nan. Xu-Nan first moved to New Zealand with his parents in 1994, before briefly returning to China, where he attended primary school. Then his family moved to New Zealand and settled in East Auckland in 1997, when he was 11.[2] Xu-Nan describes being raised by his single mother, who divorced from his father from a young age.

Xu-Nan attended intermediate and secondary school in Pakuranga. He enrolled at the University of Auckland, where he earned a dual Bachelor's degree in Pharmacology and Ancient History, then a Master's degree, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Egyptology.[3]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2024–present 54th List 16 Green

Xu-Nan joined the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. He was the party's male policy co-convenor from 2020 to 2023 and party co-convenor from 2023.

At the 2020 general election, Xu-Nan contested the Pakuranga electorate and was placed 17th on the Green Party list.[4][5] In 2023 Xu-Nan contested the Epsom electorate. He was placed 16th on the Green Party list, but was ranked too low to win a list seat at the election.[6] Following the death of Efeso Collins on 21 February 2024, Xu-Nan was declared elected as a member of Parliament by the Electoral Commission on 6 March.[7][8]

Since 2024, Xu-Nan has been the Green Party spokesperson for courts, education, ethnic communities, justice, overseas New Zealanders, seniors, and trade. Since January 2025, he has sat as a member of the justice committee.[9]

In July 2026, Foreign Minister Winston Peters told Xu-Nan to "go back to your own country" during a debate on the government's COVID-19 response. Peters' comments were condemned as racist and attention-seeking by New Zealand's Race Relations Commissioner Melissa Derby, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Labour deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni and fellow Green MP Tamatha Paul. The Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaolong criticised Peters' remarks as a reflection of his character and the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand lodged a complaint with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.[10][11] Xu-Nan later described Peters' comments as a "desperate attempt to distract from the coalition's record" and criticised the Foreign Minister for "scapegoating" migrants.[12] On 31 July, Luxon defended Xu-Nan's right to speak in Parliament and described Peters' comments as "very offensive and completely inappropriate." While he retained Peters as Foreign Minister, Luxon urged voters to vote for National to ensure that Cabinet seats were occupied by National MPs rather than coalition parties.[13]

Personal life

Xu-Nan is queer.[14]

Notes

  1. ↑ Normally, list MPs do not have individual predecessors or successors, but Collins died during a sitting parliament and therefore was succeeded by Xu-Nan.
  2. ↑ Xu-Nan has stated his birthday is on "the day" of the 1936 Xi'an Incident, which commenced on 12 December and is also referred to as the "Double Twelve Incident".[1]

References

  1. ↑ Lu, Duoya (15 March 2024). "绿党华人议员对话RNZ，谈移民经历、议华人从政" [Green party Chinese MP speaks to RNZ, discusses [his] immigrant experience and debates [the topic of] Chinese people in politics]. RNZ Chinese. Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 6 August 2026. 我的生日是西安事变这一天 [My birthday is on the day of the Xi'an Incident]
  2. ↑ Lu, Duoya (15 March 2024). "绿党华人议员对话RNZ，谈移民经历、议华人从政". RNZ Chinese (in Chinese). Retrieved 10 April 2026. Xu-Nan是我父母的姓氏，我妈妈姓许，爸爸姓南，"他说。 "在中国大家都随父姓，所以我就姓南，（名）是西。 [Xu-Nan are the surnames of my parents, my mother's surname is Xu, and my father's is Nan", he says. "In China, everybody takes their father's surname as their family name, so my family name is Nan, (given name) is Xi.]
  3. ↑ "Election 2020: Q&A with Greens candidate Lawrence Xu-Nan". Asia Media Centre. 30 September 2020.
  4. ↑ "Official Count Results – Pakuranga". Wellington: New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  5. ↑ Wade, Amelia (25 May 2020). "Chloe Swarbrick gets a major promotion in the Green Party". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 25 May 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  6. ↑ Lu, Duoya (16 October 2023). "Chinese candidates nervous about election fate". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  7. ↑ "Fa'anānā Efeso Collins' death brings another new Green MP to Parliament". Stuff. 22 February 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  8. ↑ "Declaration by Electoral Commission that Lawrence Xi Xu-Nan is elected a Member of Parliament". New Zealand Gazette. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  9. ↑ "Dr Lawrence Xu-Nan". New Zealand Parliament. 29 January 2025. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  10. ↑ Lineham, Lochlan; Henry, Dubby (31 July 2026). "Race Relations Commissioner says Winston Peters comments in Parliament 'racist'". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  11. ↑ McCulloch, Craig (30 July 2026). "Luxon criticises Winston Peters for 'inappropriate attention-seeking comments" towards Green MP". RNZ. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  12. ↑ McCulloch, Craig (30 July 2026). "China's ambassador weighs in as Winston Peters tells Green MP to 'go back to your own country'". RNZ. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  13. ↑ Lynch, Jenna (31 July 2026). "Luxon expressed confidence in Peters as foreign minister, says his remarks were racist". Stuff. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  14. ↑ Rainbow Greens (9 October 2023). "Get to know the spectacular @lawrence_xunan, one of our wonderful Rainbow Greens candidates". Instagram. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.