WeChat: The overlooked campaign battlefield in New Zealand's general election

WeChat, one of the world's biggest mobile apps, is aptly called the "default social networking tool" for Chinese users.

According to statistics published on Statista, as of the end of June 2023, this multifunctional Chinese social media platform boasted over 1.3 billion monthly active users.

Despite these staggering statistics underscoring the significance of WeChat, it remains largely overlooked in the mainstream discourse in New Zealand, particularly in terms of its place as a pivotal campaign battlefield for Chinese communities during the election.

When you search for "新西兰" (Chinese for New Zealand) within the WeChat search engine, you will likely come across thousands of official WeChat accounts related to New Zealand, covering a wide spectrum of topics and interests.

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Among the well-established WeChat official accounts, SkyKiwi and its affiliated WeChat account, New Zealand Micro-Economy (in Chinese: 新西兰微财经), stand out as some of the oldest players in this arena. Additionally, the Chinese Herald (in Chinese: 中文先驱报) holds another popular WeChat official account, boasting a substantial 4,143 published articles, with some headlines garnering over 7,000 reads.

There are also some newcomers. GoKiwi (in Chinese 发现新西兰) is a young Chinese social media platform funded by NZ on Air through the Public Interest Journalism program. Impressively, most of its headlines can reach tens of thousands of reads. Another noteworthy WeChat official account is the rejuvenated "young" New Zealand Messenger (in Chinese: 新西兰信报), which originally had a print media history dating back to 2003 but has transitioned to digital platforms like WeChat. Currently, its WeChat account goes by the name NZMessenger (in Chinese: 纽西兰的信). However, it seems to have around 1,000 reads despite a substantial quantity of published articles, totalling 2,781 as of September 28th.

Furthermore, there are numerous other registered WeChat media accounts scattered throughout New Zealand, such as MorningNZ (in Chinese: 新西兰早知道) and KiwiDaily (in Chinese 新西兰生活快讯, a sister WeChat account to GoKiwi). It would take too long to list all the names of these registered WeChat media, so let us move to exploring their involvement in the campaign and their impact on the Chinese-speaking community in New Zealand.

In the election year, many of these WeChat official media outlets become particularly active.

In reviewing the publishing activities of SkyKiwi, Chinese Herald, GoKiwi, and New Zealand Messenger in September, it became evident that all four of these media outlets actively engaged in campaign activities. SkyKiwi, in particular, published 22 campaign articles, with a notable emphasis on conducting interviews with high-ranking MPs and candidates, including Hon Dr. Ayesha Verrall, Nicola Willis, and Hon Grant Robertson. As a well-established platform within the Chinese community, SkyKiwi seems to have significant resources that enable it to access VIP interviewees.

On the other hand, GoKiwi and MorningNZ adopted a differentiated market strategy by focusing on non-mainstream candidates or leaders of smaller parties. GoKiwi conducted an exclusive interview with the ACT Party leader David Seymour and produced a biographical piece on Dan Bidois, the National Party candidate for Northcote. MorningNZ published an exclusive interview with Dr. Carlos Cheung, the National Party candidate for Mt Roskill. Meanwhile, many other official WeChat accounts concentrated more on copywriting campaign-related news and stories.

Despite variations in their available resources, the topics covered by these media outlets exhibit a high degree of coherence. Themes such as crime rates, the cost of living, and immigration policies dominate their content. Immigration policy, in particular, consistently garners the highest levels of engagement, attracting readers from both New Zealand and China. Therefore, most of WeChat media diligently monitor any changes in immigration policy, knowing that such content often results in a substantial number of reads, reposts, and comments.

For instance, on September 23rd, GoKiwi published an article about the Labour Party's latest immigrant policy, which proposed providing amnesty to overstayers. This article received over 58, 700 reads and 100 comments, with many expressing strong dissent and stating they would not vote for the Labour Party due to this policy. A similar topic published by SkyKiwi also attracted more than 40,000 reads, making it the most-read among all its campaign-related articles. It also generated harsher negative comments towards the Labour Party, with some netizens referring to them as "the rubbish party."

Two major political parties also hold official WeChat accounts. The Labour Party operates their account under a Chinese-English hybrid name, “新西兰工党NZLabourParty,” with authorization attributed to Andre Anderson at 160 Willis St, Wellington. Similarly, the National Party holds an official WeChat account named “新西兰NationalParty,” and it lists G Hamilton at 41 Pipitea St, Wellington as the authorized entity. Both accounts are categorised as “individual”. The "WeChat public platform operation specifications" stipulate that Chinese nationality and the inclusion of ID card information are mandatory for this process. 

However, politicians in countries outside China are increasingly using WeChat to reach diasporic communities, using different avenues to create accounts. WeChat even featured a role in the 2022 Australian federal elections, as politicians opened accounts, either personal or official, often with the help of China-based agencies for registration purposes. 

Small parties have relatively less exposure in WeChat media, with two exceptions, the ACT Party and New Zealand First. It could be because both leaders’ personalities and political styles have a knack for capturing attention, even in online and social media platforms like WeChat, where engagement is highly sought after. 

Unlike other Western social media platforms like Meta or Twitter, WeChat campaign activities often go unnoticed by mainstream audiences. It appears to function as a self-contained digital ecosystem for most Chinese voters, existing somewhat independently. While most media outlets strive for authenticity and honesty in their election coverage, the challenge lies in finding ways to amplify Chinese voices within the broader local community. However, there is a growing aspiration for political engagement within the Chinese community. Perhaps in the near future, we may witness talented individuals who can bridge the gap between the Chinese and English-speaking worlds.

- Asia Media Centre