Call for calm after Asians vent anger online over racist leaflets

Kyle Chapman. Photo / APN

A senior Chinese community leader is calling for calm as emotions run deep over race-attack pamphlets and plans by a far-right Christchurch group for an anti-Asian rally.

The Right Wing Resistance says Asian migrants steal jobs and destroy "white New Zealand culture and heritage" and wants New Zealand to stop mass Asian immigration.

Thousands of Chinese have taken their anger to the allegations online, and some have suggested that it is time to strike back. Many local ethnic newspapers have also published the anti-Asian campaign as headline news.

"We should all take a step back and not let the allegations get to us emotionally. Two wrongs never make a right," said Jim He, secretary general of the United Chinese Associations. "I think we can ... make this an opportunity instead to educate other Kiwis about the contributions that the Chinese and other migrants are making to New Zealand."

Police say they are monitoring the situation and will prosecute anyone who commits or incites racially motivated violence.

Resistance leader Kyle Chapman said the Canterbury earthquake was the reason his Christchurch group was shifting its focus to Auckland.

"I've heard all the experts saying in the media ... how it's because of the economic climate, because of this and because of that, and that's all bullshit," he said. "The real reason things are happening in Auckland is because of the earthquake that's left us with more time on our hands."

It is believed the group is made up of 40 to 50 mainly skinheads, although Mr Chapman refused to reveal numbers.

He said the objective of the recruitment drive in Auckland - through the distribution of flyers in areas with high Asian populations - was to get hundreds of "like-minded Kiwis" to take part in anti-Asian rallies in Auckland and other major cities before the general election in November.

Former Race Relations Conciliator Rajen Prasad, now a Labour list MP, said migrants made a "solid and positive economic, social and cultural contribution" to New Zealand.

The Department of Labour says new migrants contribute $1.9 billion to the economy every year, and tourists and international students a further $2.9 billion in foreign exchange.

Immigration advisers are worried media reports in Asia and online discussions about the anti-Asian campaign will paint New Zealand as a "racist" country and deter would-be migrants from coming here.

In March, there was a negative net flow of migrants - departures of permanent and long-term migrants exceeded arrivals by 530, the largest in 10 years.

The Immigration Service says if immigration stopped, by 2021 New Zealand's population would drop by 9.6 per cent, GDP would fall by 11.3 per cent, available labour would drop 10.9 per cent and the export sector would decline 12.9 per cent.