NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Coronavirus sparks racism: 'Send all the Chinese back to where they came from'

Cira Olivier
By Cira Olivier
Multimedia Journalist, Bay of Plenty Times·Rotorua Daily Post·
29 Jan, 2020 08:10 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌

Subscriber benefit

The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Rotorua Lakes councillor Fisher Wang has been left speechless after racist comments about the coronavirus. Photo / File
Rotorua Lakes councillor Fisher Wang has been left speechless after racist comments about the coronavirus. Photo / File

Rotorua Lakes councillor Fisher Wang has been left speechless after racist comments about the coronavirus. Photo / File

Racism has reared its ugly head in public discourse about the coronavirus, says
Rotorua Lakes councillor Fisher Wang.

A Rotorua councillor says he has been subjected to racism in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Fisher Wang says he has been approached in the supermarket twice and received three racist messages through Facebook.

"There have been a few people mention that we should send all the Chinese back to where they came from."

READ MORE:
• Coronavirus: Everything you need to know
• Coronavirus: Student from China's Hubei Province in isolation at Auckland Hospital
• First cases of human-to-human transmission of coronavirus outside of China
• Second case of coronavirus in Victoria brings Aussie total to six

Start your day in the know

Get the latest headlines straight to your inbox.
Please email me competitions, offers and other updates. You can stop these at any time.
By signing up for this newsletter, you agree to NZME’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

His comments come as the Lakes District Health Board has confirmed a fourth person has been tested in Rotorua for the deadly disease.

Three people from a tour group were tested on Sunday and a fourth followed on Monday. None were found to have symptoms of infection and their tests were taken for processing before the patients were discharged.

Wang, who also dealt with racist comments during last year's election campaign, said he was approached in the supermarket by a member of the public who asked what was being done to keep the city safe from the coronavirus.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I've had a person come up to me and say, 'why aren't we doing more? Why aren't we sending them back so it decreases the risk?'"

The person did not specify who "them" was, Wang said, but he assumed it was about Chinese tourists.

Discover more

World

Researchers racing to make a coronavirus vaccine. Will it help?

29 Jan 05:00 AM
New Zealand|education

Coronavirus: Student in isolation at Auckland Hospital, Govt plans evacuation

29 Jan 05:56 PM
New Zealand

Kiwis trapped in Wuhan in dark on evacuation plans

29 Jan 05:39 AM
Business

NZ crayfish prices slump as live export trade to China stops

29 Jan 05:59 AM

Wang's family immigrated from Taiwan more than two decades ago and he was born in Rotorua.

The 19-year-old councillor was subject to racial slurs during his campaigning last year. Someone in a car drove past and yelled: "We're not voting for ******* Chinamen".

He had also seen countless racist comments about the coronavirus on social media; comments on news stories and people sharing their views on their personal pages.

Wang said Rotorua was a multicultural melting pot but some people were still being judged based on what they looked like.

Rotorua Multicultural Association president Margriet Theron said racism is "just unacceptable". Photo / File
Rotorua Multicultural Association president Margriet Theron said racism is "just unacceptable". Photo / File

He said there was a heightened fear around the virus which had proven an extra motive for racism.

"Everyone's bound to be a bit frightened but that's no excuse to be racist.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's times like these that the community should come together, work on prevention and fight the virus, not the people."

Despite being born in Rotorua, he has had a lifetime of racist comments and people "tell me to go back to where I came from".

He had not had any comments directed to him specifically about the outbreak but rather they were said to him and directed at others.

"Which is just as bad," he said.

"Some of them think it's a kind of joke, but it's not a joke. It is really offensive."

A Rotorua resident of Chinese descent, who didn't want to be named, said although he had not had any hostility since the outbreak, it was something he could see happening more often.

"You shouldn't be racist in any situation," he said.

He said the outbreak was "like a trigger" to racism as people responded out of fear.

Rotorua Multicultural Committee president Margriet Theron said she had seen racist comments on a social media post in response to the virus and said it was "terrible".

"It became terribly racist, about closing the borders, sending people back," she said.

"It's just unacceptable ... someone who looks Chinese may well be a third-generation New Zealander."

"People are over-reacting," she said.

The four people taken to Rotorua Hospital for testing of the virus had no symptoms and were discharged after tests were sent away.

Symptoms of the coronavirus include fever, cough and trouble breathing. They can appear anywhere from two to 14 days after exposure.

Local public health services had been working closely with the Ministry of Health to ensure appropriate protocols were followed and any risk to the public was managed appropriately, the statement said.

Lakes District Health Board chief executive Nick Saville-Wood said health board staff were aware of the need to be vigilant for signs and symptoms of people who might present to the emergency departments with flu-like symptoms.

He said health board staff were working closely with Toi Te Ora Public Health to keep health professionals across the Lakes district informed of the risk.

A health board spokesperson said that, given public concern about coronavirus, "patients are likely to attend the emergency department if they feel the need to be checked to make sure they do not have the illness."

"Lakes DHB confirms it is seeing patients who have presented in the Emergency Department. They have been seen by clinicians, discussed with the Medical Officer of Health, cleared and discharged.

"There are currently no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in New Zealand."

Subscriber benefit

The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New ZealandUpdated

'Serious injuries': Multi-vehicle crash shuts key Auckland road

22 Jun 05:50 AM
New Zealand

37 players split Lotto Second Division win – where the tickets were sold

22 Jun 05:06 AM
New Zealand

'Reflection of whakapapa': Māori baby names reveal cultural trends

22 Jun 04:51 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
Departing Chiefs coach McMillian content despite Super Rugby heartbreak
Sport

Departing Chiefs coach McMillian content despite Super Rugby heartbreak

22 Jun 06:00 AM
'Serious injuries': Multi-vehicle crash shuts key Auckland road
New Zealand

'Serious injuries': Multi-vehicle crash shuts key Auckland road

22 Jun 05:50 AM
$175k in costs awarded in $10 million Auckland mansion stoush
Business

$175k in costs awarded in $10 million Auckland mansion stoush

22 Jun 05:32 AM
37 players split Lotto Second Division win – where the tickets were sold
New Zealand

37 players split Lotto Second Division win – where the tickets were sold

22 Jun 05:06 AM
'Reflection of whakapapa': Māori baby names reveal cultural trends
New Zealand

'Reflection of whakapapa': Māori baby names reveal cultural trends

22 Jun 04:51 AM

Latest from New Zealand

'Serious injuries': Multi-vehicle crash shuts key Auckland road

'Serious injuries': Multi-vehicle crash shuts key Auckland road

22 Jun 05:50 AM

A crash closed Great North Rd in Glen Eden this afternoon.

37 players split Lotto Second Division win – where the tickets were sold

37 players split Lotto Second Division win – where the tickets were sold

22 Jun 05:06 AM
'Reflection of whakapapa': Māori baby names reveal cultural trends

'Reflection of whakapapa': Māori baby names reveal cultural trends

22 Jun 04:51 AM
Kiwi man charged after cocaine blocks found in suitcase at Sydney Airport

Kiwi man charged after cocaine blocks found in suitcase at Sydney Airport

22 Jun 04:16 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search