Naisi Chen
陳耐鍶
Chen in 2023
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour party list
In office
17 October 2020 – 14 October 2023
Personal details
BornFebruary 1994 (age 30)[1]
Beijing, China
Political partyLabour
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese陳耐鍶
Simplified Chinese陈耐锶

Naisi Chen (Chinese: 陳耐鍶, born February 1994) is a New Zealand politician. She served as a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party from 2020 to 2023.

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 attended Westlake Girls High School in Auckland before studying at the University of Auckland, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws in 2017.[4][5]

She worked as president of the New Zealand Chinese Students' Association and as a director of a business consultancy firm.[6] She was appointed to the board of Foundation North in 2019.[7][8] A musician who learned piano, flute, double bass and tuba, she also sat on the board of the Auckland Philharmonia.[9][10]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2020–2023 53rd List 38 Labour

Chen was asked to run as a Labour candidate at the 2017 general election by Raymond Huo.[3] She was selected as a list candidate, ranked 50, then additionally selected for the East Coast Bays electorate after the previous Labour candidate withdrew.[11][12][13] She was defeated in the electorate contest by National's Erica Stanford and not ranked high enough to be elected as a list MP.[14]

She stood again at the 2020 election and was ranked 38 on the Labour Party list.[15] 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.[16][17][18][19] In parliament, Chen sat on the governance and administration committee and was deputy chair (from 2020 to 2023) and chair (2023) of the economic development, science and innovation committee.[20]

Ahead of the 2023 election, she sought the Labour Party nomination for Auckland Central but was unsuccessful.[21] Instead, she contested East Coast Bays for a second time. Stanford retained the seat and, despite her improved list rank of 33, the party did not poll well enough for Chen to be re-elected.[22] Due to her low ranking on the party list, she was not re-elected to Parliament.[23]

Alleged links to the Chinese Communist Party

In September 2017, New Zealand sinologist and University of Canterbury political scientist Anne-Marie Brady alleged in a conference paper that Chen had "close […] connections" to the United Front, a network of groups and individuals and strategy the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses to advance its agenda. Brady cited Chen's leadership of New Zealand Chinese Students' Association, a "united front-related organization", as evidence.[24] Chen said she felt "hurt" by the accusations.[25] 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. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Naisi Chen | Confucius Institute | Victoria University of Wellington". www.wgtn.ac.nz. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Zhang, Sherry (16 October 2020). "Naisi Chen, a new generation of Chinese New Zealander, is parliament-bound". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Alumna becomes MP". Te Reo o Te Roto. 8 March 2024. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  5. ^ Collins, Simon (18 October 2020). "Election 2020: Our diverse 40 new MPs". NZ Herald. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Election 2020: Labour's Chen to contest Botany". Times. 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Welcome to our new trustees". Foundation North. 24 June 2019. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  8. ^ Advocate, Northern (25 June 2019). "Northland news in brief: 'Seal silly season' sparks warning and comic book convention". NZ Herald. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Board and Support Organisations". Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2024.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ Cheng, Derek (1 December 2020). "New Labour MPs make maiden speeches". NZ Herald. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Labour reopens selection in East Coast Bays after candidate withdraws from election". The New Zealand Herald. 22 May 2017. Archived from the original on 22 May 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  12. ^ "Naisi Chen Labour's candidate in the East Coast Bays" (Press release). Scoop. 13 June 2017. Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Revised Labour Party List for the 2017 Election". Scoop.co.nz. 15 August 2017. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  14. ^ "Official Count Results – East Coast Bays (2017)". Electoral Commission. 7 October 2017. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ "Botany – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ "2020 General Election and Referendums – Official Result Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  20. ^ "Chen, Naisi - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Battle on: Labour reveals its candidate vying for Auckland Central seat". NZ Herald. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  22. ^ "East Coast Bays - Official Result". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  23. ^ Scotcher, Katie (16 October 2023). "Devastated Labour MPs prepare for spell in political wilderness". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ Small, Zane (10 May 2019). "Labour candidate Naisi Chen outraged to be cited in Anne-Marie Brady's China paper". Newshub. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
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