MARTYN BRADBURY : STOKING XENOPHOBIC FEARS

Cartoon about the 'Yellow Peril' threat to New Zealand, 1907.

Martyn Bradbury: Some of my best friends are Asian.

The editor of The Daily Blog whips up  anti-Chinese sentiment in order to fire some cheap shots at National Party leader Simon Bridges.

THE EDITOR of The Daily Blog has chosen to use the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to whip up anti-Chinese feeling and engage in some political point scoring at the expense of National Party leader Simon Bridges.

Evoking fears of the 'yellow peril', Martyn Bradbury writes: 'National’s love affair with China is well established, but what might surprise everyone is that Simon Bridges loves China SOOOOOOOOOO much that he wants to keep the borders open while the Wuhan Virus is running amok…'

Whether you agree with him or not,  Bridges has raised legitimate questions about the economic consequences of isolating China. But it is quite another thing to  attack him by evoking images of coronavirus-infected Chinese nationals 'running amok' throughout the country. This can only help to stoke xenophobic fears already evident throughout the country.

Is this the kind of reckless and reprehensible behaviour we can expect from Bradbury throughout this election year?