US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has arrived in the capital of New Zealand, where he was greeted by offensive hand gestures and thumbs-downs from protesters awaiting his arrival.
Over 200 protesters with the climate change action group 350 Aotearoa gathered outside the the parliament in Wellington to “unwelcome” Tillerson on Tuesday, following the recent decision by US President Donald Trump to withdraw from a climate deal negotiated in Paris.
Local news outlets reported that American press corps accompanying the top US diplomat on his eight-hour visit to New Zealand expressed great surprise at the hostile reception from members of the public.
“I’ve never seen so many people flip the bird at an American motorcade as I saw today,” said The New York Times reporter Gardiner Harris as quoted by the local Stuff news outlet.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Bill English also sounded not overly enthusiastic about the visit of the top US…