In the past week we have seen a minister, Maurice Williamson, quit after it was revealed he contacted police over a domestic abuse case involving wealthy Chinese businessman Donghua Liu.
Liu was the businessman Williamson had lobbied to be let into the country against Immigration's official advice.
Liu was involved in a $70 million property development, a point Williamson raised with the senior police officer he contacted, and he has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
What his level of investment has to do with an allegation of violence beats me, but one can only suppose the arrogance of office got to Williamson somehow.
I would have been distancing myself from the case faster than a Korean ferry captain.
Over the weekend we then find out that not only is Williamson a politician, but he's also a real estate agent (unofficial) as he helped broker a deal in which Mr Liu was able to buy a $1.9 million house.
What a mate he is ... although Williamson has rejected the idea he is friends with Liu.
Anyway, Williamson did the right thing and fell on his sword over the matter - something another minister may have to consider.
Who might that be?
Well Judith "Crusher" Collins, the Minister of Justice, has got to be getting a bit nervous despite her woman-of-steel exterior.
Collins, who has admitted being unable to pronounce the word "sorry", is caught up in her own little Chinese milk torture as she tries to avoid the stinky brown stuff being thrown at her over a perceived conflict of interest involving the Oravida company.
Ms Collins' husband, David Wong-Tung, is a director of Oravida and with that in mind she should have kept that company at arm's length.
The issue began to bubble along last year when Ms Collins made a visit to Oravida's Shanghai office while on a trip to discuss justice issues with the Chinese Government.
She said she just "popped in for a cup of tea", but documents have shown there was a bit more pre-planning than a pop-in warrants.
Then there was her meal in Beijing with Oravida bosses and an unnamed Chinese border control official at a time Oravida had requested governmental help with its milk exports to China.
Ms Collins says it was a private dinner although, she had previously asked for Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade briefing notes before withdrawing the request.
She is now under increasing opposition attack with her opponents accusing her of using an official visit to benefit her husband's company.
Now a visit to the Oravida website makes for interesting reading.
On its News and Events page there are several items worth noting.
Dated October 23, 2013: NZ's Minister of Justice and NZ's China Ambassador visit Oravida Shanghai.
Dated April 9 2013: NZ's minister Tim Groser tastes Oravida fresh milk in Shanghai.
Dated October 26, 2012: Oravida's chairman plays golf with NZ Prime Minister.
Dated March 21, 2012: Seafood and Wine luncheon with New Zealand Minister of Trade at NZ Centre.
And while nothing should be read into this at all - the Electoral Commission has revealed that Oravida donated a further $30,000 to the National Party just two months after Ms Collins' trip, taking the company's total support in recent years to more than $80,000.
While researching this column I discovered that the go-ahead has been given to another big New Zealand land purchase by a Chinese company.
The Ling Hai Group has approval to buy 741 hectares of Marlborough land in the Awatere Valley - for an undisclosed sum - for a winery and tourism deal.
While that deal may, or may not, be good for this country I'd say amber lights should be flashing over the under-the-radar negotiations that have clearly been going on.
I can understand the interested parties keeping the matter close to their chests, however, I would have thought the Overseas Investment Office would have deemed it in the public interest to let us know the deal was being brokered.
But maybe, in an election year, certain parties didn't want too much made of another big buyout of Kiwi farmland by Chinese interests.
Richard Moore is an award-winning Western Bay journalist and photographer.
Richard@richardmoore.com
