CLOSER RELATIONS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 65, Issue 5527, 21 September 1942, Page 2

CLOSER RELATIONS

CHINA-NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY THE REV. CHANDLER FIRST PRESIDENT 1 Last vyeek in Auckland the SinoNew Zealand Society was formed, ■ and the vicar of Cambridge, the Rc-v. i C. Chandler, was elected as the first ; European president. A Chinese . will be elected at the first meeting of the society, which is being held i shortly. At the meeting the Rev. C. W. Chandler outlined the events that led to the convening of the meeting. They had to do with a friendship he has formed with a Chinese scholar in Auckland, Mr C. Y. Chan.- For months past they have corresponded, and now practical expression has been given to their mutual desire for closer relations between the two countries. “China,” said Mr Chandler, “occupies nearly one-fourth of the world’s land surface, and her population of over 450,000,000 people means that more than one in five of all the world’s people are Chinese. Their civilisation, which stretches back for 4000 years in unbroken line, is the oldest in the world, and their stubborn resistance to Japan,on the admiration of us all.” A Sino-New Zealand Society has'been in existence in Australia and America for many years, but this is the first that has ever been formed in New Zealand. TELEGRAM FROM CONSUL I Professor Belshaw spoke at the meeting upon the subject of Pacific relations, and Mr Henry A_h Kew complimented the vicar upon starting the society. The following telegram from the Chinese Consul-General in Wellington was read: “Letter received. Am exceedingly happy to hear of inauguration of Sino-New Zealand Society in Auckland. In this new era of relations between this Dominion and China, there is a common desire among people of New Zealand for better understanding of Chinese civilisation, and the new' national spirit of the Chinese people. I am confident that your society, being the first and only one of its kind in New Zealand, will do its utmost to help meet such a desire. Wishing you every success.” A Provisional Committee was ’formed, comprised of the following j people:— Messrs J. Donald, Harvey Turner, Julius Hogben, Professor Belshaw (economic professor at the Auckland University), Mr H. Hunter (conciliation commissioner), Mr H. J. M. Buisson, and Xesdames T. ! Bloodworth and J. B. Lush. The Chinese elected to the committee were: Messrs Andrew Chong, C. Y. Chan, Charles Chan, Charles Wah Lee, Henry Ah Kew, and Clem Ah j Chee.