Naisi Chen

Naisi Chen (Chinese: 陈耐锶, born February 1994) is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party.

Naisi Chen

MP
陈耐锶
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour party list
Assumed office
17 October 2020
Personal details
BornFebruary 1994 (age 26–27)[1]
Beijing, China
Political partyLabour

Early life and career

Chen was born in Beijing, China and moved to New Zealand at age five.[2] Her father is a Christian pastor and her mother is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine.[3]

She worked as president of the New Zealand Chinese Students' Association and as a director of a business consultancy firm.[4]

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2020–present 53rd List 38 Labour

At the 2017 election she stood for parliament, after being approached by Labour Party MP Raymond Huo.[3] She was ranked 50th on the Labour party list.[5] In addition, Chen contested the East Coast Bays electorate, but was defeated by Erica Stanford.[6] The previous Labour candidate for the seat withdrew.[7][8]

She stood again at the 2020 election and was ranked 38 on the Labour Party list.[9] Chen also contested the Botany electorate. Despite losing the Botany electorate to National's Christopher Luxon by a margin of 3,999 votes, she was ranked high enough on the Labour list to get into Parliament.[10][11][12][13]

Naisi Chen
Traditional Chinese陳耐鍶
Simplified Chinese陈耐锶

In September 2017, New Zealand China expert and University of Canterbury political scientist Dr Anne-Marie Brady alleged in a conference paper that Chen had "close […] connections" to United Front, a method the Communist Party of China (CCP) uses to advance its agenda. Brady cited Chen's leadership of New Zealand Chinese Students' Association, a "united front-related organization", as evidence.[14] Chen said she felt "hurt" by the accusations.[15] Prior to the 2020 election, members of the group New Zealand Values Alliance distributed flyers in Auckland alleging that Chen was a "CCP agent".[3]

References
  1. "Arrival of parliament's new migrant MPs sparks rejoicing, and backlash". The Spinoff.
  2. "Naisi Chen | Confucius Institute | Victoria University of Wellington". www.wgtn.ac.nz.
  3. Zhang, Sherry (16 October 2020). "Naisi Chen, a new generation of Chinese New Zealander, is parliament-bound". The Spinoff. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  4. "Election 2020: Labour's Chen to contest Botany". Times. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  5. "Revised Labour Party List for the 2017 Election". Scoop.co.nz. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  6. "Official Count Results – East Coast Bays (2017)". Electoral Commission. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  7. "Labour reopens selection in East Coast Bays after candidate withdraws from election". The New Zealand Herald. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  8. "Naisi Chen Labour's candidate in the East Coast Bays" (Press release). Scoop. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  9. Coughlan, Thomas (15 June 2020). "Ayesha Verrall leads fresh-faced Labour party list for 2020". Stuff. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  10. "Botany - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  11. Small, Zane (18 October 2020). "NZ Election 2020 – Winners and losers: Chris Luxon a victory for National but Labour flips flood of seats red". Newshub. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  12. Weekes, John (18 October 2020). "Election 2020: Chris Luxon cruises to victory as new Botany MP". Stuff. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  13. "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  14. Brady, Anne-Marie (17 September 2017). Magic Weapons: China's political influence activities under Xi Jinping (PDF). The corrosion of democracy under China's global influence. Arlington County, Virginia: Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. p. 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  15. Small, Zane (10 May 2019). "Labour candidate Naisi Chen outraged to be cited in Anne-Marie Brady's China paper". Newshub. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
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