National MP Jian Yang was investigated by SIS for possible ties to Chinese Government

Written By: - Date published: 2:04 pm, September 13th, 2017 - 168 comments
Categories: China, International, national, same old national, Spying - Tags:

As if this campaign was not weird enough.  Newsroom and the Financial Times have broken a story confirming that National MP Jian Yang was educated in a Chinese University that concentrated on training Chinese spies and he was investigated by the SIS for his Chinese Government links.

From Newsroom:

A National Party MP who studied at an elite Chinese spy school before moving to New Zealand has attracted the interest of our Security Intelligence Service.

The list MP Jian Yang did not mention in his work or political CVs a decade he spent in the People’s Liberation Army-Air Force Engineering College or the Luoyang language institute run by China’s equivalent of the United States National Security Agency.

That agency, the Third Department, conducts spying activities for China.

Newsroom has been told that to have taught at the Air Force Engineering College, Yang would have almost certainly been an officer in Chinese military intelligence and a member of the Communist Party, as other students and staff have been.

Yang studied and then taught there before moving to Australia where he attended the Australian National University in Canberra. He migrated to this country to teach international relations in the politics department at the University of Auckland.

He was hand-picked by National Party president Peter Goodfellow to become an MP on its list in 2011, wooed directly by the former Prime Minister John Key and has been a key fundraiser for National among the Chinese community in Auckland.

As an MP he variously served on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (from 2014 until last year), Commerce, Transport and Industrial Relations and Health and Science select committees and is prominent in New Zealand’s interactions with the Chinese community and diplomatic and consular missions in Wellington and Auckland. He remains a Parliamentary Private Secretary for ethnic affairs.

There are lots and lots and lots of questions surrounding this story and questions about what John Key and Bill English knew about Yang’s background.  They must have been briefed by the SIS on this.  And this will not blow over in a couple of days.

Strange times …

168 comments on “National MP Jian Yang was investigated by SIS for possible ties to Chinese Government ”

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  1. savenz 1
    13 September 2017 at 2:35 pm

    China has been screwed by the West during it’s history. With 5 eyes spying on everyone, I guess a wise counter move to have Chinese individuals being in parliament to spy on the spys. Shows how pointless all this spying is. Give Groser a bottle of wine and you could get all NZ secrets and a binding trade agreement in your favour to boot.

    Under National our international reputation is shot. We are now the land of yokel farmers run by corrupt blokes with not too many brains up top, giving away assets that will be very valuable in the future.

  2. greywarshark 2
    13 September 2017 at 2:43 pm

    What’s wrong with having an ex- diplomat from China as one of our MPs? We may find that we have an Australian in there somewhere. China is a close ally and I suppose this Chinese person has nationalised or he couldn’t be in the National Party.

    • billmurray 2.1
      13 September 2017 at 3:13 pm

      greywarshark:
      I agree, this attack on Jian Zhang is horse shit.
      FFS can we please move on?.

      • mickysavage 2.1.1
        13 September 2017 at 3:38 pm

        Woa, allegation that a Parliamentarian may be a spy and you think no questions should be asked?

        • billmurray 2.1.1.1
          13 September 2017 at 3:54 pm

          Mickey Savage:
          The questions did happen,
          Horseshit was proved.
          Lets move on.
          No wonder you did not get chosen for Labour.
          A pratish comment.
          FFS grow up.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 2.1.1.2
          13 September 2017 at 3:56 pm

          Read what Idiot Savant says on that topic: the allegation is irrefutable, the timing suspicious.

          • billmurray 2.1.1.2.1
            13 September 2017 at 4:10 pm

            One Anonymous Bloke,
            we have rats in our attic.
            Wife, we don’t have a attic.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 2.1.1.2.1.1
              13 September 2017 at 4:16 pm

              As I/S put it:

              It’s like calling someone a meat-suit-wearing demon or a witch: any evidence to the contrary can (and will) just be viewed as another layer of deception. There’s just no way of ever overcoming it.

              • Sanctuary …
                13 September 2017 at 4:18 pm

                Or, he is a Chinese spy.

                • One Anonymous Bloke …
                  13 September 2017 at 4:19 pm

                  What would exonerate him in your eyes?

                  • Sanctuary …
                    13 September 2017 at 4:36 pm

                    Nothing. Like Caesar’s wife, our MPs loyalty must always be beyond question. His failure to reveal his years working for Chinese military intelligence demands his immediate expulsion from the house.

                    • halfcrown …
                      13 September 2017 at 4:39 pm

                      Agree with that 100%, Sanctuary

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      13 September 2017 at 4:39 pm

                      Except National just released a cv from 2012 which mentions it.

                      So he didn’t fail to reveal it. So I’ll ask you again: what would convince you he isn’t a spy?

                    • mpledger …
                      13 September 2017 at 5:37 pm

                      In Australia he wouldn’t have been allowed to be in the federal govt because he wasn’t born there.

                      I’m not that hung up of needing to be born in a country to be in parliament because in NZ something like 1 in 4 weren’t born here *but* I don’t want people from spy organisations to be in parliament whether they are CIA or MI6.

                      NZers are just way too trusting.

                    • Tuppence Shrewsbury …
                      13 September 2017 at 6:30 pm

                      And yet those same standards don’t apply to any member of the socialists or left leaning parliamentary parties observed by the state intelligence services?

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      13 September 2017 at 6:34 pm

                      @Tuppence – there are certainly one or two here who should never be considered for jury duty.

                    • Psycho Milt …
                      13 September 2017 at 6:49 pm

                      And yet those same standards don’t apply to any member of the socialists or left leaning parliamentary parties observed by the state intelligence services?

                      I presume they do. Can you point out which of them spent a decade at a CCP spy school?

                    • Ken …
                      13 September 2017 at 7:41 pm

                      Sanctuary you are correct.

        • francesca 2.1.1.3
          13 September 2017 at 4:14 pm

          A Chinese spy in the house?A sleeper?
          Its all right, he’s not Russian

    • Draco T Bastard 2.2
      13 September 2017 at 6:39 pm

      What’s wrong with having an ex- diplomat from China as one of our MPs?

      Because they have a tendency to do what’s best for their home country and not what’s best for NZ.

      China is a close ally

      No, they are not.

    • Keepcalmcarryon 2.3
      13 September 2017 at 9:59 pm

      China is not a close ally, what planet do you live on greyrawshark?

      • Unicus 2.3.1
        14 September 2017 at 12:37 pm

        Ally ! – in your dreams

        The Chinese are following the same path the Japanese did in WW2 they called it then “The sphere of co-prosperity” The difference is the Japanese sent in the battleships and infantry first . The Chinese the other way round in my reckoning.

        How much for a seat in your caucus Mr Key ? – our government will pay –

  3. Wonderpup 3
    13 September 2017 at 3:12 pm

    This has made me wonder about how many MPs have signed something like the Official Information Act, and can’t legally discuss their activities. I’m sure this guy is in the same spot. People who have been in the armed forces in other countries. Does this make them liable to pressure from those other nations? Would excluding them lead to a lack of the wide experience and background you want in MPs?

    This particular story has the potential to raise a nationalist backlash that could be really unpredictable.

  4. WILD KATIPO 4
    13 September 2017 at 3:34 pm

    They certainly get around , these chaps , don’t they ,… nice key positions, I must say…
    …………………………………..
    … ” He was hand-picked by National Party president Peter Goodfellow to become an MP on its list in 2011, wooed directly by the former Prime Minister John Key and has been a key fundraiser for National among the Chinese community in Auckland ” …
    …………………………………..

    And seems to validate Bryan Bruce’s documentary ‘Who Owns NZ Now?’ even that bit more with Nationals peculiar stance towards Chinese interests in New Zealand.

    The Falun Gong are a peaceful people , yet they were / still are imprisoned , tortured , murdered and harassed by the Chinese govt. When the Chinese PM arrived with his motorcades and body guards and NZ police escorts and stayed at a particular Auckland hotel , about 200 Falun Gong protester’s of all age groups gathered about 200 meters away.

    Obviously that was as far as they were allowed to get.

    They were not vocal , just standing with a few placards. That was all.

    Then , lo and behold , up marches around 30 NZ police in military formation , who then proceeded to stand among them between their ‘ranks’.

    It was so ironic that a peaceful people who stood up for democracy in their homeland and still had family being oppressed and who had had family and friends murdered , tortured , imprisoned and their womenfolk raped ,… were being intimidated by a modern so – called western democratic nations police force to protect a country whose human rights record is one of the worst on record.

    And all that , … just so that arse lickers like Jon Key and Judith Collins could slime up to the Chinese govt to gain a few more grains of rice from under the Chinese govts table.

  5. Pete 5
    13 September 2017 at 3:37 pm

    Jian Zhang says, “I have been nothing but upfront and transparent about my education and employment.”

    In that party they are always upfront and proud of it. You know Bill English of Clutha fame , “Upfront, open and transparent” and Paula Bennett, “upfront and honest” …

  6. Stuart Munro 6
    13 September 2017 at 3:38 pm

    Espiocrats – even worse than kleptocrats. Robespierre, Beria, Bush, Putin…

  7. Ethica 7
    13 September 2017 at 3:44 pm

    Not just a diplomat. A spy. Also a major fundraiser and vote deliverer for National, handpicked by President Goodfellow.
    Shades of Trump and Putin coming into this election now.

    • greywarshark 7.1
      13 September 2017 at 4:03 pm

      How do you, what do you, know about him a a fundraiser. Sounds as if he is a replacement for the Exclusive Brethren that were on side with National last time, with flyer deliveries if not more.

      • the pigman 7.1.1
        14 September 2017 at 6:42 pm

        I suppose you could always read and watch the excellent Newsroom investigation if you were interested in facts?

        The arm of the Left that refuses to think critically about how and why overseas interests gets served by governments because that would be “racist” is truly irredeemable.

        Even bloody Stephen Franks got it on the Panel today.
        Josie Pagani, on the other hand, “oh well China are a member of the UN and the ILO so he can’t be a spy! By the way I am doing an international law course at uni right now!”

  8. mary_a 8
    13 September 2017 at 3:49 pm

    To be an MP in this country, NZ citizenship is required, so I guess Dr Yang is a NZ citizen, having forfeited his Chinese citizenship. Or is duel NZ/Chinese citizenship allowed?

    However his past work history in China is likely to raise some questions here.

    • Draco T Bastard 8.1
      13 September 2017 at 6:47 pm

      Or is duel NZ/Chinese citizenship allowed?

      Dual citizenship is allowed. IIRC, it never used to be but Labour had a candidate that was going to lose his position as he was about to get dual citizenship with another country and so they changed the law. I was, and still am, pissed off about that.

      • alwyn 8.1.1
        13 September 2017 at 8:53 pm

        Dual citizenship was always allowed. It was taking the citizenship of another country while you were an MP that was forbidden.
        That is what Harry Duynhoven did. He applied for and took Dutch citizenship.
        A friend of mine, a lawyer and a QC, said to me that in his, admittedly cursory, reading of the Act, Duynhoven had forfeited his seat at the moment he took the Dutch citizenship and the effect of the Labour Government actions was to appoint a new member to an electorate seat.

        • Draco T Bastard 8.1.1.1
          13 September 2017 at 10:49 pm

          Dual citizenship was always allowed. It was taking the citizenship of another country while you were an MP that was forbidden.
          That is what Harry Duynhoven did. He applied for and took Dutch citizenship.

          Thanks for the clarification.

          A friend of mine, a lawyer and a QC, said to me that in his, admittedly cursory, reading of the Act, Duynhoven had forfeited his seat at the moment he took the Dutch citizenship and the effect of the Labour Government actions was to appoint a new member to an electorate seat.

          Which should have been illegal. It was most definitely immoral.

          Governments don’t get to appoint representatives for very good reasons.

        • Whispering Kate 8.1.1.2
          14 September 2017 at 10:50 am

          Alwyn – when I married my UK partner here in NZ I was given the opportunity of taking up UK citizenship and passport but it was on the proviso I gave up my NZ citizenship, as I had already had an OE on my NZ passport I was not at all inclined to relinquish it. So for all these years it has been so – I still hold a NZ passport. My partner did in the end obtain NZ citizenship but he still has had the luxury of dual-citizenship.

          I may be able to go ahead with dual-citizenship now but I can assure you that was not the case in 1972, here in NZ.

          • alwyn 8.1.1.2.1
            14 September 2017 at 1:52 pm

            I think what happened to you was probably a vagary of UK rather than New Zealand law. It may have been related to being in New Zealand at the time you got married. I wouldn’t know about their rules.
            However New Zealand has always allowed dual citizenship.

            If you have a look at this link in the bit under dual citizenship and renunciation of citizenship.
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_nationality_law
            This has applied since 1949. I know several people who got British citizenship during the period you are talking about without having to surrender their New Zealand citizenship or passport. The difference was that they were in the UK at the time, and they got it through their parents or grand parents having been born there.
            If you look at the renunciation bit you will find that you would have been unable to renounce your New Zealand citizenship anyway until AFTER you had the British version. You can’t become stateless, even for a moment.

  9. Siobhan 9
    13 September 2017 at 3:51 pm

    Out of general curiosity I just clicked the National Party/Profile link on his suitably vague wikipedia page…

    404 Error. That page was not found.
    The page you were looking for was not found. That’s all we know.

    ‘That’s all we know’…cute.

  10. joe90 10
    13 September 2017 at 3:52 pm

    Mr Jian Yang says talk to my boss, talk to my boss, declares he has nothing to hide, but he won’t answer questions. And bolts.

    National MP Jian Yang studied at a top Chinese spy school before moving to NZ. 🎥🗞 Melanie Reid, Mark Jennings https://t.co/2chENsEhal pic.twitter.com/FaqF6EKU4w— Newsroom (@NewsroomNZ) September 13, 2017

    • mary_a 10.1
      13 September 2017 at 7:51 pm

      joe90 @ (10) … now which boss would that be? Bill English? Or his boss in the Chinese government?

  11. alwyn 11
    13 September 2017 at 3:53 pm

    Well, we can certainly see that the left are getting desperate.
    Meet Micky Savage, New Zealand’s own version of Joe McCarthy.
    President Eisenhower’s gave the best comment about McCarthy. I believe it applies just as much to you.
    “I will not get in the gutter with that guy.”

    • One Anonymous Bloke 11.1
      13 September 2017 at 3:58 pm

      Well, we can certainly see that you think “the Left” is some kind of hive mind, and you’re delusional, because I agree: this is straight out of the gutter.

      • alwyn 11.1.1
        13 September 2017 at 4:03 pm

        Yeah. Well I was going to put something other than “the left” that was rather more specific but I thought it might get me banned, and I would hate to miss the last couple of weeks of the most fascinating election campaign I can remember.
        So no. I don’t really think there is a hive mentality.

    • CraigGlenEden 11.2
      13 September 2017 at 3:59 pm

      Well there is more unanswered question in here than a working Paaaartaay on Tax.

    • billmurray 11.3
      13 September 2017 at 4:04 pm

      aiwyn,
      Well said, A prat is always shown up in times of stress.
      A strong even person stays strong and even.
      The stress is put aside.

    • roy cartland 11.4
      13 September 2017 at 4:09 pm

      Nah. NZF isn’t really Left, and this is more their thing. Us-vs-them, asian invasion, etc.

    • Psycho Milt 11.5
      13 September 2017 at 4:24 pm

      Somehow, I don’t think Eisenhower would have regarded investigating someone who’d spent years at a Chinese Communist Party spy school as “getting in the gutter.”

      • One Anonymous Bloke 11.5.1
        13 September 2017 at 4:41 pm

        He was investigated. That would have been some time ago. Funny how it’s just being reported now. I wonder who’s below him on the list.

        • Psycho Milt 11.5.1.1
          13 September 2017 at 5:07 pm

          Funny how it’s just being reported now.

          Funny indeed. Suggests National sat on it, assuming SIS secrecy rules would prevent the media finding out about it. Always a stupid assumption.

          You could say that of course they didn’t want to put the info out there themselves, because who’s going to want to elect to the NZ Parliament a guy who spent years at a Chinese Communist Party spy school? But hat’s irrelevant – you bet lots of us don’t want to put someone with that history into government, and if we’re about to we have a right to know about it. Fucking stupid of National to try and just slip it past us without mentioning it.

          • One Anonymous Bloke 11.5.1.1.1
            13 September 2017 at 5:25 pm

            I’m picking someone lower down their list wants him gone.

            • Psycho Milt 11.5.1.1.1.1
              13 September 2017 at 6:47 pm

              Wouldn’t be surprised, in fact you could easily picture low-ranked Nat list MPs paying Simon Lusk for exactly that kind of advice on how to improve their ranking.

            • alwyn 11.5.1.1.1.2
              13 September 2017 at 8:58 pm

              I would think that this investigation was probably reported to Parliaments Intelligence and Security Committee.
              One of the members, by statute, is the Leader of the Opposition. What has Jacinda been up to? Or was it Andrew, her predecessor on the committee.
              An alternative is another member of the Committee who is, surprise, surprise, The Right Honourable Winston Peters.
              I would suspect that the leak has come from one of those two. They would know and would have an interest in smearing a National MP.

              • mickysavage …
                13 September 2017 at 9:16 pm

                Good question it is very likely that only the speaker and the SIS ministers knew about the allegation. Any proof anyone else knew? Otherwise stop smearing.

                • alwyn …
                  13 September 2017 at 9:41 pm

                  Pray tell me. What do you think that the Committee is for?
                  I think that it would have been briefed. The oversight of the agencies is what it is for after all.
                  Of course no Government has ever allowed us to know the full details.
                  You will have noted in the legislation that the agencies are required to provide information about their activities to the Leader of the Opposition.
                  Do you have any proof of you proposal?
                  Let me put it this way. It is a great deal more likely that they were briefed that that some low level list candidate from the National Party both knew about it and leaked it as some of the more hyper contributors to this post are suggesting.

                  • Anne …
                    13 September 2017 at 10:11 pm

                    Bullshit.

                    As far as I’m aware the SIS provide their minister, who happens to be Chris Findlayson, with the information. Out of courtesy they probably also inform the PM of the day. If it is ultra sensitive they may not inform anyone else. It would then be up to the minister and PM what they do with the information. There is no guarantee they are going to pass it on to the committee. They should of course, but this govt. has proven to be a law unto itself and has little regard for protocol when it doesn’t suit them.

                    As for the “low level list candidate”. He is a National Party MP and almost certainly was passing on information about personnel and activities meant only for the perusal of the committee members and perhaps the ‘Five Eye’ nations.

                    In my book that is a treasonable offence.

      • WILD KATIPO 11.5.2
        13 September 2017 at 4:42 pm

        Yes,… if Eisenhower’s farewell speech is anything to go by , he was quite concerned at the undemocratic ideology he felt he had to guard against , – aka the former Soviet Union.

        My how times have changed,… now we have far right wing nut jobs like alwyn and billmurray protecting and sticking up for the communists ,- and accusing people of the left as being fascists !!!

        L00L !

        • alwyn 11.5.2.1
          13 September 2017 at 6:50 pm

          Have you ever actually read his farewell speech?
          I suggest you do so again if you once did read it.
          Even the Green Party would applaud such sentiments as
          “you and I, and our government — must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow”.
          The main theme wasn’t Russia. It was the fear of the Military-Industrial complex in the US.
          Here it is. Read it right through won’t you.
          http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/dwightdeisenhowerfarewell.html

          • WILD KATIPO 11.5.2.1.1
            13 September 2017 at 8:38 pm

            Yes , alwyn ,… we already KNOW it was talking about the military industrial complex as a central theme towards the end,… ….but before that he was making obvious pointed observations of an evil foreign and undemocratic ideology ( which in some aspects suits both scenarios I will admit ) ,… and that , at the time , was during the early Cold War ( which as we all know went on to come to full fruition with the Kennedy era Cuban missile crisis) .

            As an aside , …. its interesting you chose to quote :

            “you and I, and our government — must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow”.

            Now , what current New Zealand Govt does that remind you of ?…

            With its dirty waterways and mad rush to maximize land use and water resources for maximum profit at the expense of the environment?…

            • In Vino 11.5.2.1.1.1
              13 September 2017 at 10:10 pm

              Yes Alwyn, and those who have studied history know what a conflict exists between what Eisenhower preached and what he actually did.

    • WILD KATIPO 11.6
      13 September 2017 at 4:56 pm

      And whats wrong with calling a bunch of Chinaphiles like National and their surreptitious Chinese spy plants for what they are, – as in sell outs of our national security and sovereignty ?

      PS:

      Soon you will be relieved from all the pain.

      And that dreaded thing you hate most , – public awareness of crony capitalism will be front and foremost. They say ,… a pus filled boil is far less painful when lanced than left to fester. And then when laws are passed to prevent foreign speculation on our housing markets,… those responsible for wrecking our young peoples chances of ever owning thier own homes will be revealed also.

      Happy days.

    • mickysavage 11.7
      13 September 2017 at 4:59 pm

      Its not my story. The Financial Times and Newsroom deemed it important. Are you suggesting that this site should make no comment whatsoever about it?

  12. simonm 12
    13 September 2017 at 4:13 pm

    To everyone who thinks it’s fine to have a Chinese government spy in the New Zealand Parliament, ask yourself if it would be OK if the situation were reversed. Would the Chinese Communist Party be happy to have a New Zealand spy in their ranks?
    No, they’d be taken outside and shot at the first opportunity. China, as many people forget, is a nasty authoritarian dictatorship that continues to commit gross human rights violations and ruthlessly crush any dissent from CCP rule.

    National’s “Blue Dragons” essentially function as the New Zealand branch of the Chinese Communist Party. As they grow in political influence we can look forward to greater lobbying to sell NZ land and residential property to Chinese interests; further campaigning for NZ to adopt China’s viewpoint on its illegal South China Sea grab; and increased pressure for the NZ leadership to avoid meeting with the Dalai Lama and discussing Tibet or developing relations with Taiwan.

    If New Zealand wishes to retain any semblance of being a liberal democracy, it should stand up to China on issues where it acts illegally and immorally, rather than acquiescing to all of its demands in order to sell more dairy products.

    • greywarshark 12.1
      13 September 2017 at 4:25 pm

      Same goes for the USA.

      • simonm 12.1.1
        13 September 2017 at 5:22 pm

        Yep. But Americans still can and do call Donald Trump an arsehole in public without consequence.

        Try doing the same with Xi Jinping if you’re Chinese. It’s only a matter of hours before you’ll be executed and your family jailed for life. Or you’ll have your organs harvested for transplants to high-ranking Communist Party officials.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Xiaobo

    • WILD KATIPO 12.2
      13 September 2017 at 4:47 pm

      .. ” Would the Chinese Communist Party be happy to have a New Zealand spy in their ranks? ” …

      Well , judging by the official ‘ concerned ‘ response of the Chinese govt when John Keys govt was caught red handed spying for the USA via the 5 eyes spy agreement ,… most definitely not.

      But this is ‘ bend over forwards’ NZ , mate … we’ve got our pants down and open for anybody.

    • Draco T Bastard 12.3
      13 September 2017 at 6:53 pm

      Would the Chinese Communist Party be happy to have a New Zealand spy in their ranks?

      I wonder if a NZ born person with dual citizenship could even get into the Communist Party there.

      If New Zealand wishes to retain any semblance of being a liberal democracy, it should stand up to China on issues where it acts illegally and immorally, rather than acquiescing to all of its demands in order to sell more dairy products.

      QFT

      • simonm 12.3.1
        13 September 2017 at 7:13 pm

        Chinese citizens cannot hold dual nationality. In order to take citizenship in another country, they must renounce their Chinese citizenship. This is why many Chinese people in NZ prefer to remain as permanent residents rather than taking NZ citizenship. Not Dr Yang though – he holds a NZ passport.

    • Melanie Scott 12.4
      13 September 2017 at 11:35 pm

      Agreed, but we are a very small country and having let the Trojan horse in so far, we have made it hard to reverse policies in this context. Our government has placed NZ in a very parlous situation. Knowingly allowing a member of the Peoples’ Liberation Army (or as a friend of mine who worked in China at the time of Tianamen Square calles them, the Peoplles’ Liquidation Army) to become an elected member of Parliament is most unfortunate to say the least. How cynical is this government?

  13. Anne 13
    13 September 2017 at 4:13 pm

    How did Newsroom get to hear about the SIS’s interest in this fellow Jian Yang?

    Operational matters are strictly top secret. Somebody must have pimped.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 13.1
      13 September 2017 at 4:18 pm

      This is at least the second political ‘hit’ they’ve been involved in, the other being the attack on Winston Peters.

      • Anne 13.1.1
        13 September 2017 at 5:19 pm

        Who said it was the SIS who leaked the information about Peters? Somebody in DSW leaked the info. to the ministers and the Nat’s DP machine took it from there. It’s obvious. The DSW will deny it of course.

    • WILD KATIPO 13.2
      13 September 2017 at 4:48 pm

      Yep ,… pimping s all the fashion these days , – they learned good from C.Slater and his Daddy’s Nat party colleagues just how to do it .

  14. Sanctuary 14
    13 September 2017 at 4:28 pm

    Read the newsroom story. Of course he is a spy, anyone who concludes differently is a gullible fool. Things like the planting and introduction to people like Peter Goodfellow of big spenders like Jian Yang who just so happened to have spent 16 years training as a spy (and never got around to mentioning it) don’t happen by chance when the aggrandizing Chinese Communist Party is involved.

    • Anne 14.1
      13 September 2017 at 5:21 pm

      Of course he is a spy,…

      With a background like that there’s no way he couldn’t be a spy. 😀

  15. lurgee 15
    13 September 2017 at 4:52 pm

    Last night’s poll revealed the loons who masquerade as members of the left; perhaps this story will reveal some of the racist bigots.

    Reeks of Dirty politics to me.

    • WILD KATIPO 15.1
      13 September 2017 at 5:02 pm

      L0L !… The inverted ‘race’ card , eh , Lurk?

      A not so subtle or opaque way to use sanctimonious falsehood and ignoble aesthetics to achieve ones own pecuniary gains , eh?

      Yeah , we’ve had 33 years of that sort of droll lie.

      And most people get the punchline the first time they heard it.

      You know ,… the one about the neo liberal joke.

      New Right Fight – Who are the New Right?
      http://www.newrightfight.co.nz/pageA.html

      • lurgee 15.1.1
        13 September 2017 at 5:17 pm

        I don’t think the left are immune to racism.

        • WILD KATIPO 15.1.1.1
          13 September 2017 at 5:41 pm

          But they ARE on the whole immune from using the race issue sanctimoniously to advance their pecuniary interests , – unlike the far right who feign morals and values to achieve their objectives , – then happily dump those same values and moral when they are no longer needed.

          • lurgee 15.1.1.1.1
            13 September 2017 at 5:44 pm

            Who’s using the race issue sanctimoniously to advance their pecuniary interests on this thread? Why are you jabbering about this? It seems irrelevant.

            Though – for what it’s worth – I think more than a few lefties have used the race issue sanctimoniously to advance their pecuniary interests. It’s called employment in academe.

            • WILD KATIPO 15.1.1.1.1.1
              13 September 2017 at 6:10 pm

              Kauri swamp logs ring a bell ?

              Water deals ?… and that gnasty tax Jacinda is thinking of slapping on bottled water to make foreign owned company’s pay their fair share in using OUR water ?

              And what was that thing about a $100,000.00 fictitious bottle of wine and donations to the Labour party by a particular Chinese businessman a few years back ?

              It seems either you have a poor memory , are new to NZ politics , – or deliberately selective in what you choose to recall.

              Seems to be quite a problem within the National party ,.. from Mr Key forgetting texts he made the same day , … to Mr English forgetting if he knew about a particular tape recording…

              A lot like a lot of other issues which could be mentioned whenever National party senior ministers have been caught out ,… the dreaded amnesia seems to automatically kick in. And these guys are running a country ?!!?… thank goodness they will soon be gone.

              • lurgee …
                13 September 2017 at 10:15 pm

                You’re rambling off down some obscure and fairly irrelevant by-way. Try to stay on topic.

                • WILD KATIPO …
                  13 September 2017 at 10:51 pm

                  Yes Mod.

                  Please Mod,…may I use recent historical examples to illustrate my point about govt corruption or could that be too potentially embarrassing to those I think are desperate political hypocrites seeking to win another election to carry on their skulduggery?

                  Yep , lurkie , … that’s the great thing about being a center left nationalist who believes in social democracy with a Keynesian based economic system… its hell on the neo liberals and globalists. Got em all f@cked. No matter which way they try to spin it.

                  Happy days.

  16. Et Tu Brute 16
    13 September 2017 at 4:55 pm

    I’m sure the story will be clearer after a few days. But Newsroom says he didn’t mention this on his CV. In fact two periods at the university are mentioned on his CV which has been online since 2012. The SIS investigation on the face of it looks serious, but they do investigate a lot of people. They would note be doing their jobs if they didn’t investigate him. So until more comes out, this story is just ‘blah’.

  17. tsmithfield 17
    13 September 2017 at 5:00 pm

    The list MP Jian Yang did not mention in his work or political CVs a decade he spent in the People’s Liberation Army-Air Force Engineering College or the Luoyang language institute run by China’s equivalent of the United States National Security Agency.

    The statement above has proven to be completely wrong as English has released his CV to the media which clearly discloses his time at the Army-Air Force Engineering College.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96800358/national-mp-jian-yang-slams-defamatory-claim-he-was-trained-by-chinese-spies

    Not a very good spy if he can’t cover up those apparently incriminating details.

    What a load of nonsense.

    • WILD KATIPO 17.1
      13 September 2017 at 5:10 pm

      Awww… lets just be a little more soft hearted , then eh?

      Why not have a few more Russian and Israelis spy’s,… throw in a few from North Korea or Iran ,… hell !…. why not go the whole hog and have a whole wing of parliament dedicated to ‘ ex’ spys from every country round the globe?

      And why not ?… this is New Zealand , mate , and were known as the happy down trou forward benders internationally already because of National.

      Holy Roly , – We’re even called NZ Inc on the Wall Street Stock market ! So lets go all open slather !

      • lurgee 17.1.1
        13 September 2017 at 5:30 pm

        Your evidence of him being a spy is about as robust as your evidence of Reid Research faking their polls.

        That means it isn’t very robust, in case you were wondering.

        Are you a rightwing sock puppet employed to make this place look silly?

        I can suggest that because I’m applying your own rules of evidence – just make it up if you want to.

        • WILD KATIPO 17.1.1.1
          13 September 2017 at 5:54 pm

          You are assuming I said he was,… in fact if you read it correctly I’m implying that this whole National party fixation with Chinese business interests leads to this sort of thing.

          Also ,… the peculiar schizophrenia from National about having imbalanced trade relations , – indeed a Free Trade Deal with China on the one hand , – and on the other , – merrily spying away for the USA on China with the other hand.

          Rather duplicitous of them , don’t you think?

          And just as Bryan Bruce’s documentary ‘Who Owns NZ Now?’ demonstrates National party lies and duplicity , this latest simply shores up what most of us have suspected all along.

          We have a lying , corrupt National party government comprised of individuals who have only collected governmental salary’s at the tax payers expense to forward their own vested interests, – and thankfully soon to be gone.

          Now then,… that doesn’t really seem all that too sock puppety , … does it now.

          • lurgee 17.1.1.1.1
            13 September 2017 at 10:37 pm

            You weren’t calling him a spy? Sorry, must have misunderstood what you meant when you posted, “whats wrong with calling a bunch of Chinaphiles like National and their surreptitious Chinese spy plants for what they are.” What ‘spy plants’ are you referring to?

            Beyond that, I have no idea what point you are trying to make here. I doubt you do either.

            • WILD KATIPO 17.1.1.1.1.1
              14 September 2017 at 1:24 am

              That’s right , – and what indeed is wrong with calling them that?

              As they may or may not be,… but going on past performance with Nationals lies involving two recent Prime Ministers ?

              I think there’s a fairly strong case for them ( Nats ) to answer for.

              Don’t you?

              • lurgee …
                14 September 2017 at 5:52 am

                So, when you weren’t calling him a spy, you were calling him a spy?

                What does 2 + 2 equal in your world? 5, or 3?

                • Muttonbird …
                  14 September 2017 at 6:13 am

                  I don’t think this clown is a threat but does it not concern you that the country he comes from instructs him to lie on application forms, and indeed has no democracy whatsoever?

                  Or are you one of these RWNJs who don’t have an issue with corruption in NZ until it gets to African levels?

                  • lurgee …
                    14 September 2017 at 6:24 am

                    Has it been proven that he lied? As far as I can make out, not much has been confirmed, just lots of Dirty Politics swirling round the pan.

                    I refused to vote Labour in 2008, and haven’t voted for them since, due to Clark’s pursuit of a FTA with China. Work it out for yourself.

                    • Muttonbird …
                      14 September 2017 at 10:08 am

                      He admitted to lying and hid behind the Chinese ‘system’.

                      I’ve worked it out alright. You voted for Key three times as ‘punishment’. People like you disgust me and if there is a change in government I’ll laugh hardest and longest at you.

                    • lurgee …
                      14 September 2017 at 4:00 pm

                      I voted for Key three times? What is your source for this information?

      • halfcrown 17.1.2
        13 September 2017 at 6:37 pm

        Nice one Wild

    • Stuart Munro 17.2
      13 September 2017 at 11:12 pm

      Even Karla had a little drummer girl. It’s hard to have a perfect backstory – life gets in the way.

  18. Sanctuary 18
    13 September 2017 at 5:16 pm

    Why is anyone surprised such a spy might pop up? A specialist in human intelligence, inserted as a swanky successful Chinese businessman, he “happens” to attract the immediate attention of two starry eyed money worshippers in John Key and Peter Goodfellow, and it just so “happens” he is of like mind to that pair of rapacious Nats with $$$ in their eyes, and he donates lots.

    Having greased the palms, he gets into parliament as a low profile list MP. The local Chinese know whats up. They are falling over themselves to ingratiate themselves as loyal Blue Dragons with the guy who clearly reports to Beijing.

    Spies are not like James Bond. Spies do stuff like prepare inside information and work out who did and said what where. New Zealand is a key five eyes partner of the United States. Having a spy sitting in the caucus of the governing party, feeding back character assessments, foibles, weaknesses, power dynamics etc etc etc would be gold, especially when the Chinese know that how our well profiled politicians react to an issue that is informed by five eyes intelligence would provide a good guide to how the wider five eyes alliance is swallowing a story, or what it knows, or otherwise.

    • Anne 18.1
      13 September 2017 at 5:30 pm

      Precisely Sanctuary – a text book analysis of your typical foreign spy. He won’t be the only one in NZ and God only knows how many there are in Aussie. That he made it into parliament so easily is testament to the naivety of the governing party – unless they’re in on a deal with the Chinese government. They do have a penchant for doing deals. Eg. Judith Collins.

      • Sanctuary 18.1.1
        13 September 2017 at 5:40 pm

        “…That he made it into parliament so easily is testament to the naivety of the governing party…”

        I think National are particularly vulnerable to wealth, because they worship money like a God. But that is how honey traps work. You bait the trap with what the target likes. We’d be fools if we didn’t think they’d try a profile more suited to the left if Labour was in power and looking like staying there for a decade.

        The wide-eyed credulity of the National party and the money hungry right like Jenny Shipley has a mirror on the left, because they share with the wider public a general naivety and a refusal to believe that anyone might want to hurt us, covert what we’ve got or plan to do us harm. New Zealanders think to know us is to love us, we are harmless lovable outdoors types that everyone likes.

        The right thinks that if we behave like a reliable and slightly stupid Labrador, and the left think that if we preach internationalism and send a Hercules to disaster areas then we’ll be left alone.

        But people do want what we’ve got. We do have enemies – we are a member of the five eyes, we regularly take part in the policing of the Anglo-Saxon global empire, we do have those who covet what is ours for themselves.

        • Anne 18.1.1.1
          13 September 2017 at 6:03 pm

          I think National are particularly vulnerable to wealth, because they worship money like a God. But that is how honey traps work….

          And didn’t it work a treat! Of course he’s been rendered inoperative now so expect we will see him ‘moving on’ before too many months/years have passed.

          • halfcrown 18.1.1.1.1
            13 September 2017 at 6:59 pm

            Shit Anne you and Sanctuary have really got the handle on this one.
            Very good well thought out opinions

        • ropata 18.1.1.3
          13 September 2017 at 11:13 pm

          Well put Sanc.

          Growing evidence of what was suspected all along. Nats *are* bankrolled and heavily influenced by a foreign power. Explains a lot…

          Bill Liu, money laundering, foreign speculators, gambling, Oravida, etc etc ad nauseam

          It is not xenophobia. NZ is the target of textbook political subversion and propaganda.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 18.2
      13 September 2017 at 5:31 pm

      Idiot Savant hit the nail on the head. First the verdict, then the trial.

  19. Andre 19
    13 September 2017 at 5:35 pm

    I wouldn’t want someone trained at West Point or any other substantial connection to the US security apparatus as an MP here. And I’m US/NZ dual national. Similarly, close connections to the DGSE or Mi6 or any other foregn security should be enough to remove anyone from consideration as a candidate for Parliament.

    So I’m freshly surprised at how careless with NZ’s future National have been by putting this guy on their list in a high enough place to get him into Parliament.

    • Paul G. Buchanan 19.1
      14 September 2017 at 8:34 am

      And here I was ging to run for office once I got citizenship. As far as my former colleague Jian is concerned–I reserve judgement. His career prior to arrival in NZ has certain parallels to my own, and I am not, as far as I checked, a “spy.” What the SIS needs to do is confirm his status because now that it is being questioned in public there is no point in keeping the information confidential for operational reasons.

      • Andre 19.1.1
        14 September 2017 at 9:17 am

        Gotta admit, were you to run for Parliament here, it would provoke a lot of soul-searching on my part about making exceptions to general principles. Because I value the work you have done using your background to show another view on international events. Which would bring a valuable perspective to parliament. But in the end, if it were to come down to it, probably the general principle would prevail for me. Sorry.

        But I’m not aware of any instances of Dr Yang helping inform the public debate using his background. By contrast, his public activities with groups like the Blue Dragons raises further questions around where his motivations and allegiances really lie.

        • Paul G. Buchanan 19.1.1.1
          14 September 2017 at 10:01 am

          Ha Ha, you got me there. I once asked Jian after he was in parliament if the Nats were using his expertise (since he has authored several good (objective) books and articles about Chinese foreign policy in the South Pacific). He laughed and said something to the effect of “no, they just use me to raise money from the Chinese and to sit on housing committe chin wags” (because he is a landlord in Auckland). He lamented to me the toll being an MP took on his family life, as he and his son live in Wellington while his wife and daughter live in Ak. Good cover story, I guess.

          But one measure of a human intel operator is that they react calmly and cooly to confrontations about their bona fides, be it from the media or others. Jian’s defensive reaction and the heavy handed PR exercise with that Ross wookie hovering over him (and ending the IV) indicates to me that he is more of a deer in the headlights than a seasoned humint professional. Perhaps that is the way the PRC works with its diaspora agents, but I think that his problems stem mostly from trying to hide his past association in order to get citizenship because he was scared that if he was truthful that he would be denied. As always, that was his error because it is the cover up that gets uncovered first, then the explaining has to begin and does not often suffice.

          I have heard that the source of the leak on his past came from another NZ academic. Professional rivalries coming home to roost perhaps? Who said that academics is all cheese and crackers?

          In any event, here is my take on things: http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2017/09/is-he-a-spy/

  20. mary_a 20
    13 September 2017 at 5:36 pm

    And here, none other than Winston Peters is claiming the Labour party leaked the details about Yang, as retaliation for Natz saying the labour leader is a socialist activist! (This bit is about 3/4 down the page of the article).

    I trust Peters has some solid evidence to support his claim?

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11921843

    • DSpare 20.1
      13 September 2017 at 5:58 pm

      mary_a
      If anything, that Peters; “suggested”, that Labour might be involved in leaking Yang’s background to the media, suggests to me that NZF themselves might have been behind it. Though, on the basis that; whipping up a yellow peril furor during the election is clearly in the interests of this party, I already had suspicions in that direction.

      • alwyn 20.1.1
        13 September 2017 at 9:06 pm

        It could be Labour or Winston.
        They both have members on Parliaments Intelligence and Security Committee and certainly would have been briefed on any such investigation.
        Take your pick. They both have an interest in smearing the current Government.

        • Anne 20.1.1.1
          13 September 2017 at 9:13 pm

          Not necessarily. This one involves a National Party MP. Ultra sensitive. The SIS would have passed on the information to Findlayson as their minister – and the PM who was probably still John Key. The full committee may not have been informed of this particular investigation.

          Newsroom will never divulge who told them unless there is a formal inquiry.

        • Gabby 20.1.1.2
          14 September 2017 at 4:55 pm

          Could be anyone lower on the list than he is couldn’t it alwy.

  21. adam 21
    13 September 2017 at 6:20 pm

    I’ve been saying it for years, the national party is a front for communism….

  22. Robert Guyton 22
    13 September 2017 at 6:22 pm

    “Yang said his students were simply monitoring communications, rather than carrying out “the physical act of spying”.

    “If you define those cadets or students as spies, then yes, I was teaching spies.”

    But Yang said he did not consider those students to be spies, personally. “They were collecting information.”

    Goodness gracious!

  23. Robert Guyton 23
    13 September 2017 at 6:26 pm

    “I can understand [how] people can be concerned because they don’t understand the Chinese system. But once they understand the system they should be assured this is nothing, really, to be concerned about.”

    Crikey!

    • Psycho Milt 23.2
      13 September 2017 at 6:45 pm

      I vote “Totalitarian rule is nothing, really, to be concerned about” as most appropriate National Party motto for the current team.

    • Gristle 23.3
      13 September 2017 at 7:52 pm

      For centuries the Chinese government has adhered to format of extra-territorialty where it has claimed jurisdiction over anybody of Chinese extraction anywhere in the world. The latest demonstration of this occurred last month in Fiji where 70 Chinese expats where rounded up by Chinese police and shipped back to China without any Fijian warrants or extraditions.

      The expectation from the Chinese government would be for Yang to be compliant to its requirements regardless of whether he had A NZ passport or a Chinese one.

      It’s just in this case Yang has been more heavily involved in the secret service (and this connection is still recent) than many other NZ Chinese.

      Goodfellow and Key were way to eager to enlist Yang.

  24. Tuppence Shrewsbury 24
    13 September 2017 at 6:33 pm

    This has shades of dirty politics all over it.

  25. adam 25
    13 September 2017 at 6:49 pm

    Stupid question, but didn’t he sit of the defense committee?

    And as such wouldn’t he be privileged to classified material?

    Would such material include 5 eyes material?

    What would that mean to our allies, if he did?

    • Adrian 25.1
      13 September 2017 at 7:24 pm

      Yeah ,the Defence Committee for godsake, talk about positioning.
      This is seriously deficient on Nationals part. If this was UK or US there would be so much shit hitting the fans it would put Irma to shame.
      He’s a spy, he cannot avoid being a spy under the Chinese Government system to work there he must have been sworn in and you can’t walk away from those type of organisations.
      I bet Dimwit Bill is getting so much strife from the US over this he must be vulnerable
      to pressure and losing it in the next few days.

      • DSpare 25.1.1
        13 September 2017 at 8:27 pm

        Seriously; the defense committee? That’s not in his wikipedia page; not that much is. The CV only says; “Member of Parliament”.

        [edit] I see it now – eyes must have glazed over at that point:

        As an MP he variously served on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (from 2014 until last year)…

        • Anne 25.1.1.1
          13 September 2017 at 8:55 pm

          As an MP he variously served on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (from 2014 until last year)…

          The three most internationally sensitive portfolios.

          1) Did the SIS tell Findlayson/Key/English about their concerns re- Jian Yang?

          2) If so, did F/K/E ignore the SIS and do nothing about it or…

          3) Was he removed from the above committees but allowed to stay as a list member?

          3) Did this situation have any influence on Key’s sudden resignation?

          There’s a lot of question requiring answers and NZers are entitled to have those answers.

  26. Ross 26
    13 September 2017 at 6:52 pm

    This has always been my favourite Bond song 🙂

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaV-6qerkqI

  27. Ad 27
    13 September 2017 at 7:21 pm

    He has to resign.

    Good media hit there.

    • Ross 27.1
      13 September 2017 at 7:51 pm

      Nah he’s a Tory remember. His mates at the Politburo must’ve been in stitches when he told them that one of his colleagues got caught using a dictaphone. In New Zealand, Get Smart is a reality show. 🙂

  28. Chats Williams 28
    13 September 2017 at 7:30 pm

    Heard Bill Talking To Donald on A meet-and-greet this arvo, lucky it’s not the duck shooting season…….

  29. carlite 29
    13 September 2017 at 8:12 pm

    Maybe this is why we got such a crappy deal from TPPA?

    Also… if he was a spy… do you think he would admit to being one? If he did, that would make him the world’s worst spy.

  30. DSpare 30
    13 September 2017 at 8:30 pm

    This from Bradbury was interesting (usual condiment recommendations apply):

    I met Jian Yang once in his role as the head of politics at Auckland University when I was applying for post graduate study and I was always surprised in my 20 minute interview with him that he knew more about who I was and my political activism than anyone else on campus. He asked me lots of questions that had bugger all to do with the study I wanted and far more focused on who I knew and what they were doing.

    The allegation that he might be a Chinese spy doesn’t surprise me at all.

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/09/13/so-nationals-blue-dragons-might-be-red-dragons-how-national-are-utterly-compromised-to-china/

  31. Ken 31
    13 September 2017 at 8:42 pm

    Even if you can’t bring yourself to believe that The NZ national Party is in on this, you still have to accept that giving such a person as this access to our government is criminally negligent at the very least.

  32. Sabine 32
    13 September 2017 at 10:08 pm

    in east germany these guys were called “informal informants”. anyone over 15 and below 90 was one, and equally had a file on them in the vast archives of the Stasi. It always goes both ways, i assume the same with this guy. How much family has he got left in China?

  33. david 33
    13 September 2017 at 10:47 pm

    Dead cat. Classic.
    Curious to see who planted the story in the media. Plausible deniability.
    This could be the real story.
    Positive campaign?

  34. Stephen 34
    14 September 2017 at 3:37 am

    I read the story, then a lot of the comments. Of course I hesitate to comment because I am not anywhere near as educated or informed as all your writers and commenters. But as someone who clings to socialism and therefore is rather estranged from the modern, educated Labour Party, and as one still mired in the history of our country (again, educated people see that history no longer applies, no left, no right, no class etc ) I recall the efforts of the SIS against progressive workers – Bill Sutch, the trade union movement, the Vietnam war movement, Maori organisations – and I just can’t bring myself to trust them. And, naively, I think the infestation of our army, police, government departments, spy services, media and universities by your American masters of rather more threat to my country…but then, of course, it is not my country, it is yours….

    • francesca 34.1
      14 September 2017 at 9:11 am

      Agree with you, it may be an age thing,amongst those who remember the days of a more independent NZ, when our socialism was a source of pride. After the 80’s it became a risible notion

  35. mary_a 35
    14 September 2017 at 8:24 am

    Some doubt now over Yang’s citizenship application, re the name of the military institute he worked/taught at.

    Lies, spies and alibis!

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11922025

  36. DSpare 36
    14 September 2017 at 9:22 am

    I find Yang’s defense a bit unconvincing:

    Asked if he made a false declaration on his citizenship application, Yang said giving the name of “partnership” universities instead of the institutes he actually worked and studied at was not a false declaration and was required if he was to leave China.

    “It is not a false declaration. When I left China I was asked by the system to use my partnership universities. That is why I used those universities in applying for jobs, even [at] the University of Auckland.

    “That’s my CV. It is not that I am deliberately trying to cover-up. It’s because the system asked me to use the partner university. That is the reason,” Yang said.

    “When I left China I was told, basically, ‘use your partnership university’. And I did that. And ever since then, I stick with my partner university…

    The National Party released to media a CV it said was provided by Yang to New Zealand’s Embassy in China in 2012, as background for a visit. It included his time at the engineering university and language institute.

    “ever since then, I stick with my partner university”; except that in 2012 he didn’t. Concealing the truth because the “system” of a totalitarian state required you to, doesn’t really explain why he continued to do so in NZ when he was not subject to that system anymore. Until he became an MP, and had to provide a CV to the; New Zealand’s Embassy in China, who would presumably have the onground knowledge to be able to see through the ruse if he’d used the name of a partnership university.

    This still doesn’t prove that he is a spy of course, though English’s reassurance isn’t very reassuring: “I think from early on I’ve been aware that he had military training including military intelligence”. He “thinks [he’s] been aware”? Was “early on” before or after Yang became an MP?

    • ropata 36.1
      14 September 2017 at 11:24 am

      Yang is a NZ citizen but still says “I am Chinese”.

      Send the mole back to his political masters in Beijing

      • DSpare 36.1.1
        14 September 2017 at 1:05 pm

        ropata
        Maybe he has dual citizenship? I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere if he does. He calls people examining his past a; “smear campaign” targeting him “just because I am Chinese”, but Pansy Wong was also a Chinese Nat, and I don’t recall her ever being called a spy (other things; yes, but not a spy).

        The above was supposed to be a reply to mary_a @ comment 35, that’s why my quote had no link. This guardian article is worth reading too, for an idea of how this looks from an overseas perspective:

        he became an MP, quoting China’s former Communist party leader, Deng Xiaoping, in his debut speech to parliament.

        “I don’t care if it is a white cat or a black cat,” the National party legislator said. “It’s a good cat as long as it catches mice.”

        On Wednesday Yang was battling claims not that he was a black or a white cat, but a Trojan horse…
        in a Chinese-language interview with the Financial Times, Yang reportedly asked repeatedly that information about his academic past in China be omitted from any article about him. “You don’t need to write too much about myself,” he reportedly said.

        In his six years as an MP for New Zealand’s ruling National party, Yang has been a vocal supporter of China’s Communist party.

        https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/13/china-born-new-zealand-mp-yang-jian-denies-being-a-spy

  37. Unicus 37
    14 September 2017 at 3:54 pm

    This will and should have reverberations in every democratic country dealing with China .

    John Key has made it on to the international stage at last .

  38. Jessie Yang 38
    14 September 2017 at 9:11 pm

    I am a Chinese, I don’t think MP Jian Yang is a spy or not,it is SIS’s job.But, He stayed in the China Army System at least 12 years ,and he also was a member of Communist Party, in my opinion he is not suitable for public service in NZ government or any western government. Every Chinese knows that Every Chinese in important position will be bribed or threaten by CCP and forced him to serve for MOTHERLAND.

  39. Graeme 39
    15 September 2017 at 5:16 pm

    Dead man walking….

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11922788

    Who’s the serious looking bloke standing behind him?

    • simonm 39.1
      15 September 2017 at 6:25 pm

      Yeah. If Metiria Turei had to resign from parliament because she voted in the wrong electorate, Yang has got to go for falsifying his citizenship application. Having his citizenship revoked is not an unreasonable penalty for immigration fraud.

      Bloke attempting to look serious next smirking Simon Bridges is Chris Bishop, former tobacco lobbyist for Philip Morris and National List MP.

      • Graeme 39.1.1
        15 September 2017 at 6:49 pm

        Bugga, granny’s changed the image / video, on an earlier one there was a tall, serious bloke standing at Jian Yang’s right shoulder. A cropped version in still on the home page.

  40. cleangreen 40
    15 September 2017 at 10:00 pm

    Hey Mickey,

    I woke up to realise now that this NZ MP Jian Yang may be family of Yang Enterprises in USA who are snarled up in a voting fraud hacking case and is he trying this here now?

    See these clips and the testomony abour ‘Yang Enterprises.

    Fishy stuff may be connected?

    Eugene Curtis – Yang Enterprises election fraud. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7R1_ixtlyc

    NZ MP Jian Yang – is he related to this family Yang Enterprises computer intelligence company carrying out voting fraud in USA?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7R1_ixtlyc

    http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/florida_election_stolen.html

    Updated December 21, 2004

    (2017/05/15 17:15) The Newest Breaking News … for global hacking waveWashington PostPutin Blames … of the young developer Jian-Yang’s octopus …

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    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago

  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Hysterical bullshit
    Radio NZ reports: Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has accused the new government of “deliberate .. systemic genocide” over its policies to roll back the smokefree policy and the Māori Health Authority. The left love hysterical language. If you oppose racial quotas in laws, you are a racist. And now if you sack ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • ELE LUDEMANN: It wasn’t just $55 million
    Ele Ludemann writes –  Winston Peters reckons media outlets were bribed by the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund. He is not the first to make such an accusation. Last year, the Platform outlined conditions media signed up to in return for funds from the PJIF: . . . ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 1-December-2023
    Wow, it’s December already, and it’s a Friday. So here are few things that caught our attention recently. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt covered the new government’s coalition agreements and what they mean for transport. On Tuesday Matt looked at AT’s plans for fare increases ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    3 days ago

  • Shane MacGowan Is Gone.
    Late 1996, The Dogs Bollix, Tamaki Makaurau.I’m at the front of the bar yelling my order to the bartender, jostling with other thirsty punters on a Friday night, keen to piss their wages up against a wall letting loose. The black stuff, long luscious pints of creamy goodness. Back down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 1
    Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop and other National, ACT and NZ First MPs applaud the signing of the coalition agreements, which included the reversal of anti-smoking measures while accelerating tax cuts for landlords. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • 2023 More Reading: November (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for November: A Modern Utopia, by H.G. Wells The Vampire (poem), by Heinrich August Ossenfelder The Corpus Hermeticum The Corpus Hermeticum is Mead’s translation. Now, this is indeed a very quiet month for reading. But there is a reason for that… You see, ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies.The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. They also describe the processes of the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    3 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Questions a nine year old might ask the new Prime Minister
    First QuestionYou’re going to crack down on people ram-raiding dairies, because you say hard-working dairy owners shouldn’t have to worry about getting ram-raided.But once the chemist shops have pseudoephedrine in them again, they're going to get ram-raided all the time. Do chemists not work as hard as dairy owners?Second QuestionYou ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Finally
    Henry Kissinger is finally dead. Good fucking riddance. While Americans loved him, he was a war criminal, responsible for most of the atrocities of the final quarter of the twentieth century. Cambodia. Bangladesh. Chile. East Timor. All Kissinger. Because of these crimes, Americans revere him as a "statesman" (which says ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Government in a hurry – Luxon lists 49 priorities in 100-day plan while Peters pledges to strength...
    Buzz from the Beehive Yes, ministers in the new government are delivering speeches and releasing press statements. But the message on the government’s official website was the same as it has been for the past several days, when Point of Order went looking for news from the Beehive that had ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • DAVID FARRAR: Luxon is absolutely right
    David Farrar writes  –  1 News reports: Christopher Luxon says he was told by some Kiwis on the campaign trail they “didn’t know” the difference between Waka Kotahi, Te Pūkenga and Te Whatu Ora. Speaking to Breakfast, the incoming prime minister said having English first on government agencies will “make sure” ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Top 10 at 10 am for Thursday, Nov 30
    There are fears that mooted changes to building consent liability could end up driving the building industry into an uninsured hole. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Thursday, November 30, including:The new Government’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on how climate change threatens cricket‘s future
    Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, M Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else, and complaining that he has inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” – which is how most of us are ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • We need to talk about Tory.
    The first I knew of the news about Tory Whanau was when a tweet came up in my feed.The sort of tweet that makes you question humanity, or at least why you bother with Twitter. Which is increasingly a cesspit of vile inhabitants who lurk spreading negativity, hate, and every ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Dangling Transport Solutions
    Cable Cars, Gondolas, Ropeways and Aerial Trams are all names for essentially the same technology and the world’s biggest maker of them are here to sell them as an public transport solution. Stuff reports: Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr has launched its case for adding aerial cable cars to New ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • November AMA
    Hi,It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Ask-Me-Anything on here, so today’s the day. Ask anything you like in the comments section, and I’ll be checking in today and tomorrow to answer.Leave a commentNext week I’ll be giving away a bunch of these Mister Organ blu-rays for readers in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • National’s early moves adding to cost of living pressure
    The cost of living grind continues, and the economic and inflation honeymoon is over before it began. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: PM Christopher Luxon unveiled his 100 day plan yesterday with an avowed focus of reducing cost-of-living pressures, but his Government’s initial moves and promises are actually elevating ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Backwards to the future
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number of moves which will see the new government go backwards as it repeals and cost-cuts its way into power. They will completely repeal one ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • New initiatives in science and technology could point the way ahead for Luxon government
    As the new government settles into the Beehive, expectations are high that it can sort out some  of  the  economic issues  confronting  New Zealand. It may take time for some new  ministers to get to grips with the range of their portfolio work and responsibilities before they can launch the  changes that  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • Treaty pledge to secure funding is contentious – but is Peters being pursued by a lynch mob after ...
    TV3 political editor Jenna Lynch was among the corps of political reporters who bridled, when Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told them what he thinks of them (which is not much). She was unabashed about letting her audience know she had bridled. More usefully, she drew attention to something which ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • How long does this last?
    I have a clear memory of every election since 1969 in this plucky little nation of ours. I swear I cannot recall a single one where the question being asked repeatedly in the first week of the new government was: how long do you reckon they’ll last? And that includes all ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • National’s giveaway politics
    We already know that national plans to boost smoking rates to collect more tobacco tax so they can give huge tax-cuts to mega-landlords. But this morning that policy got even more obscene - because it turns out that the tax cut is retrospective: Residential landlords will be able to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: Who’s driving the right-wing bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In 2023, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • GRAHAM ADAMS:  Media knives flashing for Luxon’s government
    The fear and loathing among legacy journalists is astonishing Graham Adams writes – No one is going to die wondering how some of the nation’s most influential journalists personally view the new National-led government. It has become abundantly clear within a few days of the coalition agreements ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    4 days ago

  • Top 10 news links for Wednesday, Nov 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere for Wednesday November 29, including:The early return of interest deductibility for landlords could see rebates paid on previous taxes and the cost increase to $3 billion from National’s initial estimate of $2.1 billion, CTU Economist Craig Renney estimated here last ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Smokefree Fallout and a High Profile Resignation.
    The day after being sworn in the new cabinet met yesterday, to enjoy their honeymoon phase. You remember, that period after a new government takes power where the country, and the media, are optimistic about them, because they haven’t had a chance to stuff anything about yet.Sadly the nuptials complete ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • As Cabinet revs up, building plans go on hold
    Wellington Council hoardings proclaim its preparations for population growth, but around the country councils are putting things on hold in the absence of clear funding pathways for infrastructure, and despite exploding migrant numbers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Cabinet meets in earnest today to consider the new Government’s 100-day ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • National takes over infrastructure
    Though New Zealand First may have had ambitions to run the infrastructure portfolios, National would seem to have ended up firmly in control of them.  POLITIK has obtained a private memo to members of Infrastructure NZ yesterday, which shows that the peak organisation for infrastructure sees  National MPs Chris ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • At a glance – Evidence for global warming
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Who’s Driving The Right-Wing Bus?
    Who’s At The Wheel? The electorate’s message, as aggregated in the polling booths on 14 October, turned out to be a conservative political agenda stronger than anything New Zealand has seen in five decades. In 1975, Bill Rowling was run over by just one bus, with Rob Muldoon at the wheel. In ...
    Bowalley Road
    5 days ago

  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Sanity break
    Cheers to reader Deane for this quote from Breakfast TV today:Chloe Swarbrick to Brook van Velden re the coalition agreement: “... an unhinged grab-bag of hot takes from your drunk uncle at Christmas”Cheers also to actual Prime Minister of a country Christopher Luxon for dorking up his swearing-in vows.But that's enough ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • National’s murderous smoking policy
    One of the big underlying problems in our political system is the prevalence of short-term thinking, most usually seen in the periodic massive infrastructure failures at a local government level caused by them skimping on maintenance to Keep Rates Low. But the new government has given us a new example, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • NZ has a chance to rise again as our new government gets spending under control
    New Zealand has  a chance  to  rise  again. Under the  previous  government, the  number of New Zealanders below the poverty line was increasing  year by year. The Luxon-led government  must reverse that trend – and set about stabilising  the  pillars  of the economy. After the  mismanagement  of the outgoing government created   huge ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago

  • KARL DU FRESNE: Media and the new government
    Two articles by Karl du Fresne bring media coverage of the new government into considerations.  He writes –    Tuesday, November 28, 2023 The left-wing media needed a line of attack, and they found one The left-wing media pack wasted no time identifying the new government’s weakest point. Seething over ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • PHILIP CRUMP:  Team of rivals – a CEO approach to government leadership
    The work begins Philip Crump wrote this article ahead of the new government being sworn in yesterday – Later today the new National-led coalition government will be sworn in, and the hard work begins. At the core of government will be three men – each a leader ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Black Friday
    As everyone who watches television or is on the mailing list for any of our major stores will confirm, “Black Friday” has become the longest running commercial extravaganza and celebration in our history. Although its origins are obscure (presumably dreamt up by American salesmen a few years ago), it has ...
    Bryan GouldBy Bryan Gould
    6 days ago

  • In Defense of the Media.
    Yesterday the Ministers in the next government were sworn in by our Governor General. A day of tradition and ceremony, of decorum and respect. Usually.But yesterday Winston Peters, the incoming Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, of our nation used it, as he did with the signing of the coalition ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Tuesday, Nov 28
    Nicola Willis’ first move was ‘spilling the tea’ on what she called the ‘sobering’ state of the nation’s books, but she had better be able to back that up in the HYEFU. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • PT use up but fare increases coming
    Yesterday Auckland Transport were celebrating, as the most recent Sunday was the busiest Sunday they’ve ever had. That’s a great outcome and I’m sure the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    6 days ago

  • The very opposite of social investment
    Nicola Willis (in blue) at the signing of the coalition agreement, before being sworn in as both Finance Minister and Social Investment Minister. National’s plan to unwind anti-smoking measures will benefit her in the first role, but how does it stack up from a social investment viewpoint? Photo: Lynn Grieveson ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Giving Tuesday
    For the first time "in history" we decided to jump on the "Giving Tuesday" bandwagon in order to make you aware of the options you have to contribute to our work! Projects supported by Skeptical Science Inc. Skeptical Science Skeptical Science is an all-volunteer organization but ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Let's open the books with Nicotine Willis
    Let’s say it’s 1984,and there's a dreary little nation at the bottom of the Pacific whose name rhymes with New Zealand,and they've just had an election.Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, will you look at the state of these books we’ve opened,cries the incoming government, will you look at all this mountain ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Climate Change: Stopping oil
    National is promising to bring back offshore oil and gas drilling. Naturally, the Greens have organised a petition campaign to try and stop them. You should sign it - every little bit helps, and as the struggle over mining conservation land showed, even National can be deterred if enough people ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Don’t accept Human Rights Commission reading of data on Treaty partnership – read the survey fin...
    Wellington is braced for a “massive impact’ from the new government’s cutting public service jobs, The Post somewhat grimly reported today. Expectations of an economic and social jolt are based on the National-Act coalition agreement to cut public service numbers in each government agency in a cost-trimming exercise  “informed by” head ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • The stupidest of stupid reasons
    One of the threats in the National - ACT - NZ First coalition agreements was to extend the term of Parliament to four years, reducing our opportunities to throw a bad government out. The justification? Apparently, the government thinks "elections are expensive". This is the stupidest of stupid reasons for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • A website bereft of buzz
    Buzz from the Beehive The new government was being  sworn in, at time of writing , and when Point of Order checked the Beehive website for the latest ministerial statements and re-visit some of the old ones we drew a blank. We found ….  Nowt. Nothing. Zilch. Not a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: A new Ministry – at last
    Michael Bassett writes – Like most people, I was getting heartily sick of all the time being wasted over the coalition negotiations. During the first three weeks Winston grinned like a Cheshire cat, certain he’d be needed; Chris Luxon wasted time in lifting the phone to Winston ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Luxon's Breakfast.
    The Prime Minister elect had his silver fern badge on. He wore it to remind viewers he was supporting New Zealand, that was his team. Despite the fact it made him look like a concierge, or a welcomer in a Koru lounge. Anna Burns-Francis, the Breakfast presenter, asked if he ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL:  Oranga Tamariki faces major upheaval under coalition agreement
     Lindsay Mitchell writes – A hugely significant gain for ACT is somewhat camouflaged by legislative jargon. Under the heading ‘Oranga Tamariki’ ACT’s coalition agreement contains the following item:   Remove Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 According to Oranga Tamariki:     “Section ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Peters as Minister
    A previous column looked at Winston Peters biographically. This one takes a closer look at his record as a minister, especially his policy record. Brian Easton writes – 1990-1991: Minister of Māori Affairs. Few remember Ka Awatea as a major document on the future of Māori policy; there is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Cathrine Dyer's guide to watching COP 28 from the bottom of a warming planet
    Is COP28 largely smoke and mirrors and a plan so cunning, you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel? Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: COP28 kicks off on November 30 and up for negotiation are issues like the role of fossil fuels in the energy transition, contributions to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Top 10 news links at 10 am for Monday, Nov 27
    PM Elect Christopher Luxon was challenged this morning on whether he would sack Adrian Orr and Andrew Coster.TL;DR: Here’s my pick of top 10 news links elsewhere at 10 am on Monday November 27, including:Signs councils are putting planning and capital spending on hold, given a lack of clear guidance ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the new government’s policies of yesteryear
    This column expands on a Werewolf column published by Scoop on Friday Routinely, Winston Peters is described as the kingmaker who gets to decide when the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded but equally important role as the ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    7 days ago

  • The New Government’s Agreements
    Last Friday, almost six weeks after election day, National finally came to an agreement with ACT and NZ First to form a government. They also released the agreements between each party and looking through them, here are the things I thought were the most interesting (and often concerning) from the. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    7 days ago

  • How many smokers will die to fund the tax cuts?
    Maori and Pasifika smoking rates are already over twice the ‘all adult’ rate. Now the revenue that generates will be used to fund National’s tax cuts. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The devil is always in the detail and it emerged over the weekend from the guts of the policy agreements National ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • How the culture will change in the Beehive
    Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to do, and that means it knows what outcomes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    7 days ago

  • No More Winnie Blues.
    So what do you think of the coalition’s decision to cancel Smokefree measures intended to stop young people, including an over representation of Māori, from taking up smoking? Enabling them to use the tax revenue to give other people a tax cut?David Cormack summed it up well:It seems not only ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 19, 2023 thru Sat, Nov 25, 2023.  Story of the Week World stands on frontline of disaster at Cop28, says UN climate chief  Exclusive: Simon Stiell says leaders must ‘stop ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Some of it is mad, some of it is bad and some of it is clearly the work of people who are dangerous ...
    On announcement morning my mate texted:Typical of this cut-price, fake-deal government to announce itself on Black Friday.What a deal. We lose Kim Hill, we gain an empty, jargonising prime minister, a belligerent conspiracist, and a heartless Ayn Rand fanboy. One door closes, another gets slammed repeatedly in your face.It seems pretty ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • “Revolution” is the threat as the Māori Party smarts at coalition government’s Treaty directi...
    Buzz from the Beehive Having found no fresh announcements on the government’s official website, Point of Order turned today to Scoop’s Latest Parliament Headlines  for its buzz. This provided us with evidence that the Māori Party has been soured by the the coalition agreement announced yesterday by the new PM. “Soured” ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • The Good, the Bad, and the even Worse.
    Yesterday the trio that will lead our country unveiled their vision for New Zealand.Seymour looking surprisingly statesmanlike, refusing to rise to barbs about his previous comments on Winston Peters. Almost as if they had just been slapstick for the crowd.Winston was mostly focussed on settling scores with the media, making ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • When it Comes to Palestine – Free Speech is Under Threat
    Hi,Thanks for getting amongst Mister Organ on digital — thanks to you, we hit the #1 doc spot on iTunes this week. This response goes a long way to helping us break even.I feel good about that. Other things — not so much.New Zealand finally has a new government, and ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    1 week ago

  • Thank you Captain Luxon. Was that a landing, or were we shot down?
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Also in More Than A FeildingFriday The unboxing And so this is Friday and what have we gone and done to ourselves?In the same way that a Christmas present can look lovely under the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Further humanitarian support for Gaza, the West Bank and Israel
    The Government is contributing a further $5 million to support the response to urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, bringing New Zealand’s total contribution to the humanitarian response so far to $10 million. “New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian life and the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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