Raymond Huo

Raymond Huo (simplified Chinese: 霍建强; traditional Chinese: 霍建強; pinyin: Hùo Jiànqiáng; born 1964[1]) is a New Zealand politician who was a Member of Parliament from 2008 to 2014 and from 2017 to 2020. He was first elected in 2008 as the New Zealand Labour Party's first MP of Chinese descent. He was the third Chinese New Zealander to enter Parliament, after the National Party's Pansy Wong and ACT's Kenneth Wang.

Raymond Huo
霍建强
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Labour Party List
In office
16 March 2017 – 17 October 2020
Preceded byJacinda Ardern
In office
8 November 2008 – 20 September 2014
Personal details
Born
Huo Jianqiang
霍建强

1964 (age 58–59)
Qianshan, Anhui, China
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Auckland
Anhui University
China University of Political Science and Law
ProfessionLawyer

Huo announced in July 2020 that he would not be standing in the 2020 election.[2] Multiple news outlets reported in 2021 that his retirement from Parliament came after intelligence agencies flagged concerns about his relationship with the Chinese Government, and was arranged as part of a deal between Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Opposition Leader Todd Muller that also involved National MP Jian Yang leaving Parliament for the same reason.[3] [4][5][6]

Early life

Huo was born in Qianshan, an eastern part of China, where his mother still lives.[7] Huo's father was a doctor, and his mother was a head nurse. They were in their early thirties when they volunteered to move from the capital city to Qianshan to help the local population fight schistosoma, a parasitic disease. It was here that Huo first picked up some of the ideals and beliefs, such as social justice and equity, which would lead him into politics.[8]

Being a medical professional did not spare Huo's father from persecution during the Cultural Revolution. His father—an "intellectual"—was ordered to stand at the gates of the hospital for an hour, three times a day with a white board stating "counter-revolutionary medical expert".[7] Huo, only 5 years old at the time, joined him with a smaller whiteboard saying "little counter-revolutionary medical expert".

Huo credits his time in the small rural town as a major influence on his desire for free-will that he has carried into his politics and world view.[9]

According to his maiden speech to Parliament, Huo taught himself to speak English as a teenager in China by listening to the radio.[10] Huo states that he studied at Anhui University in Hefei and at China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing,[11] and that the latter appointed an Honorary Professor of Law.[12]

Huo emigrated to New Zealand in 1994. He worked as a journalist for The New Zealand Herald where he was the Asian Affairs reporter. He subsequently obtained a MLitt (First Class Honours) majoring in political communication, and an LLB from the University of Auckland. Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament, Huo practiced law in Auckland at Brookfields and Hesketh Henry.[13]

Member of Parliament
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2008–2011 49th List 21 Labour
2011–2014 50th List 21 Labour
2017 51st List 21 Labour
2017–2020 52nd List 13 Labour

Fifth National Government, 2008–2014

Huo was elected via the Labour Party list at the 2008 election and appointed as spokesman for Statistics, the Law Commission and Chinese Community Affairs. He also sat on the select committee for Law and Order and a Trustee on the Board of the Asia:New Zealand Foundation.[14] He was initially mooted for the Labour nomination in the new electorate of Botany, but eventually chose to stand as a list-only candidate.[15][16]

Huo was a strong advocate for Ethnic Representation on the new board of the Auckland Council Super City and submitted the Local Government (Auckland Council) (Asian Advisory Board) Amendment Bill to the House. Although Huo's Bill was voted down in Parliament by 64 votes to 58 on 4 November 2009, the National-led Government soon after announced that an Ethnic Advisory Board Panel would be established on the new council.[17]

Following Green Party co-leader Russel Norman's controversial protest to PRC Vice President Xi Jinping during Xi's 2010 visit to New Zealand, Huo wrote a blog entry defending Chinese rule over Tibet.[18] Thuten Kesang, spokesperson for the New Zealand Tibetan community, accused Huo of "promoting communist China progaganda" and said he would lay a formal complaint with the Labour Party.[18]

Huo and Ruth Dyson at a Labour function in 2013

In February 2011, Huo urged the New Zealand Government to overhaul the Export Education sector which is worth over $2.3 billion to the country's economy. Huo believes that New Zealand has a reputation for "ghetto education" in Asian countries and must change this or risk losing hundreds of International students from the Asian region.[19] He also urged Prime Minister John Key to incorporate the Education (export education by private training establishments) Amendment Bill into the current Education Amendment Bill (No 4), citing the importance of the international student market.[20]

Huo was re-elected in 2011, but due to his party's poor showing in the 2014 election lost his seat in Parliament and returned to legal practice.

Return to Parliament, 2017–2020

In February 2017, Labour list MP Jacinda Ardern won the 2017 Mount Albert by-election, which allowed the party to bring a new list MP to parliament. Huo was the third-highest ranked Labour candidate not to enter parliament at the 2014 election. Both people ranked higher, Maryan Street and Moana Mackey, announced they would decline the chance to return to Parliament.[21][22] Huo was declared elected on 15 March 2017 and sworn in as an MP on 16 March 2017,[23][24] and appointed Labour's spokesman on Land Information.[25]

During the 2017 general election held on 23 September, Huo stood as a Labour candidate and was elected as a party list candidate.[26] When Huo's party formed the new government he was appointed chairperson of the Justice Committee, although he stepped down from that position when the Committee inquired into foreign interference in New Zealand elections.[27]

In September 2017, New Zealand China expert and University of Canterbury political scientist Dr Anne-Marie Brady alleged in a conference paper that Huo was a pro-China influencer who helped to advance China's united front strategy of co-opting political and business elites in New Zealand. According to Brady, Huo worked very closely with the Chinese Government and had close contacts with the Zhi Gong Party, one of the eight legal parties in China subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party that focuses on promoting relations between Beijing and Chinese diaspora communities abroad. Observers have also noted Huo's relationship with Communist Party-connected businessman and political donor, Yikun Zhang.[28] Brady also claimed that Huo's decision to translate Labour's 2017 election campaign slogan "Let's do it" into Xi Jinping's quote "roll up your sleeves and work hard" carried sexual connotations.[29][30] Huo has responded critically to Brady's allegations, stating "that there was a fine line between what Brady has alleged and the genuine promotion of the NZ-China relationship."[31]

In mid November 2017, Huo filed a defamation suit against New Zealand People's Party President Steven Ching and his wife Ailian Su for allegedly promoting a smear campaign that Huo had a criminal record and had tried to get the Police to erase it. The issues were settled in March 2018 following Ching and Su's written apology and the payment of Huo's legal costs.[32] Huo had previously been part of the Ching's legal team after allegations that Ching had misused government connections while standing as a Labour candidate in 2005.[33]

In early March 2019, Huo as Chair of the parliamentary Justice Select Committee declined Dr Anne-Marie Brady's request to testify at a Parliamentary justice committee to examine potential foreign interference as part of its review of the 2017 general election. Huo, who had been named as a key pro-China influencer in Brady's conference paper, had declined her request on the procedural grounds that she had submitted her application five months after the final deadline on 23 September 2018. Huo and the other Labour members of the Justice Select Committee voted against Brady's application, triggering criticism from the opposition National Party electoral reform spokesperson Nick Smith.[34] In response to media coverage, Huo reversed his earlier decision and extended an invitation for Dr Brady to speak to select committee members.[35][36] Huo later criticised Smith for leaking the internal voting of the Justice select committee and playing on his identity as a Chinese–born MP.[37]

Huo announced on 21 July 2020 that he would not contest the 2020 general election, stating that he wanted to spend more time with his family. He regarded his role in the establishment of the New Zealand Chinese Language Week in 2014 as one of the highlights of his parliamentary career.[37][38] In 2021, it was reported that his retirement from Parliament came as the result of a secret deal between Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Opposition Leader Todd Muller after intelligence agencies raised concerns about his and National MP Jian Yang's relationships with the Chinese Government. According to reports, the two leaders arranged for both Huo and Jian to leave Parliament at the 2020 election "with a minimum of fuss".[4][5][6]

Author

Huo has published a number of books and articles including, Now in New Zealand, Something to Crow About, Jinma: Philosophy on Wisdom and Human Life (five volumes), Simplified American novels with Chinese notes: Love of Life, Life in the woods and five others, Lexicon of Contemporary English, Collected Works with Equivalent Chinese, Lexicon of Contemporary English, a Concise Edition,[39] and The New Zealand Quartet.[40]

References
  1. "Roll of members of the New Zealand House of Representatives, 1854 onwards" (PDF). New Zealand Parliament. 24 May 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  2. "Labour MP Raymond Huo retiring from politics at election". Stuff. 21 July 2020. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  3. Vance, Andrea (2022). Blue Blood: The inside story of the National Party in crisis. Auckland: HarperCollins. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-7755-4215-5.
  4. McCulloch, Craig (27 May 2021). "Labour, National tight-lipped on former Kiwi-Chinese MPs' departure". RNZ. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  5. Harman, Richard (26 May 2021). "The cooling of relations with China: Why two MPs retired last year". Politik. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  6. Hooton, Matthew (26 May 2021). "Matthew Hooton: Chinese Government associates alleged to have infiltrated National and Labour". NZ Herald. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  7. "We need to talk about China". The New Zealand Herald. 6 April 2013. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  8. "Raymond Huo". Huo.co.nz. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  9. Trevett, Claire (26 January 2009). "New voices: Nikki Kaye, Todd McClay, Raymond Huo". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  10. "Raymond Huo". Huo.co.nz. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  11. Huo, Raymond. "Raymond Huo". LinkedIn. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  12. "Raymond Huo (霍建强)". New Zealand Labour Party. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  13. "Raymond Huo". Huo.co.nz. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  14. Archived 21 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Tan, Lincoln (20 June 2008). "Botany a hot Asian battleground". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  16. Blockley, Louise (22 August 2008). "Raymond Huo on Labour list". Te Waha Nui. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  17. Tan, Lincoln (4 November 2009). "Asian input critical to city's future, says Huo". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  18. Tan, Lincoln (3 July 2010). "MP's pro-China blog appals Tibet's friends". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 15 February 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  19. "'Ghetto education' creates suspicion in major market". New Zealand Herald. 16 February 2011. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020 – via PressReader.
  20. Tan, Lincoln (16 February 2011). "'Ghetto education' creates suspicion in major market". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
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  25. "Jacinda Ardern to hit the road while David Clark and Megan Woods promoted in Labour's line up changes". The New Zealand Herald. 7 March 2017. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  26. "Attachment A: 2017 General Election list of successful candidates" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  27. Walters, Laura (30 April 2019). "Huo steps down as chair to avoid conflict claims". Newsroom. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  28. Marcetic, Branko (19 October 2018). "The Ross v Bridges affair is a kick up the arse on Chinese state influence in NZ". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  29. Brady, Anne-Marie (16–17 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. pp. 1–57. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  30. Nippert, Matt; Fisher, David (20 September 2017). "Revealed: China's network of influence in New Zealand". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  31. Cheng, Derek (7 December 2017). "PM Jacinda Ardern discounts Chinese influence". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  32. "Political rifts in the Chinese community as politicians battle over defamation". Stuff.co.nz. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2020. He and Siu have signed statements admitting they published the comments and caused harm to Huo. They agreed to pay an undisclosed sum in compensation.
  33. Cheng, Derek (20 November 2017). "Raymond Huo says he was falsely accused of corruption & criminal record". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
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  36. Walls, Jason (8 March 2019). "Justice select committee chairman Raymond Huo opens invitation to Anne-Marie Brady to speak to MPs". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  37. Walls, Jason (21 July 2020). "Labour list MP Raymond Huo announces retirement from politics". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
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  39. "Raymond Huo". Huo.co.nz. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  40. "Books by Raymond Huo – Wheelers Books". www.wheelers.co.nz. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
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