Old Chinese leader is embracing right New Zealanders (6)
I believe the answer is:
maoris
'new zealanders' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are plural nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.
'old chinese leader is embracing right' is the wordplay.
'old chinese leader' becomes 'Mao' (Chairman Mao).
'embracing' is an insertion indicator.
'right' becomes 'r' (common abbreviation).
'mao'+'is'='maois'
'maois' placed around 'r' is 'MAORIS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for maoris that I've seen before include "Indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand" , "Aboriginal people of New Zealand" , "New Zealand natives" , "New Zeland aborigines" , "Aboriginies of New Zealand" .)