TO AID CHINA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 6 August 1945, Page 5

TO AID CHINA

NEW ZEALAND EXPERTS FOR UNRRA Wellington, This Day. New Zealanders who will |.lHy n part in the reconstruction of China in the •medical, agricultural and engineering fields under the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, are now being interviewed by Mr. (i. C. Burton, chief personnel officer for the Administration in the south-west Pacific area.. Till a few we eke ago Mr. Burton was Vocational Guidance Officer in Wellington. lie was then a pointed to his present post, with headquarters in Sydney. Interviewed in Christchurch recently, Mr. Burton said that between 200 and 300 applications had been received in answer to recent advertisements calling for men with special qualifications to take over administration jobs. Men with high qualifications In medicine. agriculture and engineering were wanted to help in the reconstruction of China and to train the Chinese themselves in these professions. A more or less fixed quota had been arranged for appointments from each United Nation, and it was hoped to find New Zealand'** full representation from the applicants. Up to 20 men might l>e chosen from the whole Dominion, said Mr. Burton. Some would go to China at once and work in liberated areas, and others would follow as soon as possible. They would work under the Chungking branch of UNRRA, which itself worked in clo«e cooperation and by agreement with the Chinese Government “The specialists from New Zealand. Australia and other nations will he entrusted w ith the task of reconstructing China out of the ravages of war,” he said. "Part of their work will be to plan and carry out the actual job of reconstruction, but a more important part will he the teaching of Chinese to enable them eventually to take over the work themselves. “In agriculture, particularly, there is a very wide field for development, and many New Zealanders have the necessary background to fit them for this task. On the medical side, one of the chief jobs will bp the teaching of public health. Engineers will have wide scope in the restoration of utilities and in civil engineering projects.” Appointments would be for a minimum yf 12 months, said Mr. Burton, hut a year snd a half or two years would be preferred. The administration planned to «pend big sums in helping China recover and much of this work could he started now, in liberated territory. Acceso to jther areas was at present difficult or impossible, and men would not be sent all the way was clear. Many Australians and New Zealanders had cone to Europe to assist the administration’s first major job. the relocation the millions of displaced civilians. This work, said Mr.-Burton, was now almost completed