Rewi Alley

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We owe a war debt to China
SOUTHERN FOCUS
TIM SHADBOLT
Last updated 07:00 20/11/2013



OPINION: I realise a lot of Southlanders are not excited by our growing friendship with China. Cold War attitudes and fear of the "yellow peril" still dominate the thinking of a minority on council.

Now that China is firmly established as our biggest trading partner, has the largest number of fee-paying overseas students in this country, and is our fastest growing tourist market, we simply can not turn our backs on them. I believe local government can play a small but significant role in extending the hand of friendship.

The Chinese played a major role in developing our first major export industry. In both Southland and Otago, Chinese gold miners worked hard and helped build a strong local economy.

In World War II China helped save Australia and New Zealand from invasion by refusing to surrender to the Japanese, who had made it to New Guinea and were methodically bombing Darwin. In fact, more bombs were dropped on Darwin than Pearl Harbour.

The Anzac armies had been sent to Europe and the Middle East, so we were virtually defenceless. If China had surrendered to Japan, as Russia did to Germany in WWI, that would have released 26 divisions for the battle raging in New Guinea and Darwin.

Rewi Alley, a young farm boy from Castle Rock, fought heroically in WWI and then travelled to China for a job as a fire safety officer. When the Japanese invaded China, instead of running home, he established Chinese industrial co-operatives (Gung Ho) that supplied food, blankets and ammunition to the Nationalist and Communist armies fighting the invaders.

He is now recognised as one of China's top 10 friends. His courage helped New Zealand become the first Western country to establish a free-trade agreement with China, and the first Western country to open an embassy in communist China.

There is an excellent exhibition about Rewi Alley on display at the Christchurch Museum, not far from the Paua House, so if you get an opportunity to visit the Garden City you should check it out.

I would like to apologise to all my readers who are not interested in history because over the next year I will be writing a lot about WWI.

The Government has set aside a fund of $17 million so New Zealand can commemorate the 100th anniversary of this epic struggle. It was the world's first major mechanical war involving machine guns, mines, gas, planes and tanks.

The battles fought were catastrophic. More than 70 million soldiers were mobilised. Of those, 9.4 million were killed and 15.4 million were wounded. About 3 million soldiers were raised from the British Empire.
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The only "humane" aspect of the war was that slaughtering civilians was not considered acceptable. Only 5 per cent of the casualties were civilians, whereas in WWII more than 50 per cent of the casualties were the victims of carpet bombing or ethnic cleansing.

And what triggered off this international tragedy? It almost reads like a comedy of errors. A Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, and five of his romantic schoolmates decided to assassinate the Austrian Emperor Franz Ferdinand and free their country.

They knew he would be speaking at the Sarajevo town hall, so the wannabe assassins spread out along the quay he would be driving along. The first "terrorist" wet his pants and was too traumatised to open fire. The second was worried about accidentally hitting Empress Sophie so he ran way. The third assassin did manage to throw a hand grenade but he missed the car and wounded a few spectators and Princip, their heroic leader, was so disgusted by their efforts he stormed off the scene and went to the nearest caf for a cup of coffee. A modern day Al Qaeda squad would by now have died of shame.

Franz Ferdinand gave his speech and everything went well at the town hall, but on the way home his chauffeur took the wrong road and when trying to reverse he stalled the car, by an amazing coincidence right outside the caf where Princip had been drinking his coffee.

At a range of one metre even he couldn't miss and both Franz and Sophie were shot dead. Austria declared war on Serbia, which had an alliance with Russia, which had an alliance with France, which had an alliance with Britain. Austria had an alliance with Germany, which had an alliance with Turkey and so on and so forth, until every major industrial nation on earth was sucked into the nightmare. If you have any stories involving WWI please let me know.

» Tim Shadbolt is the mayor of Invercargill.

- The Southland Times www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/opinion/columns/9407425/We-owe-a-war-debt-to-China

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Art exhibition sheds light on Rewi Alley
JANINE RANKIN
Last updated 12:00 21/08/2012



The New Zealand and adopted Chinese families of writer, educator and social reformer Rewi Alley reunited at Palmerston North Library this week to open an exhibition celebrating his life.

The small-town South Islander and World War I veteran who spent nearly 60 years of his life in China is widely acknowledged as New Zealand's most famous man in the Asian country.

A key contributor to the exhibition is artist Bangzhen Deng, one of several children Mr Alley adopted into his family, who spoke of the man who had raised him and encouraged his studies.

"I was brought up by Rewi Alley, and had lots of support from him.

"But while lots of the old people in China knew him, the younger generation might not know, and that's why we have made this exhibition."

Mr Alley's nephew Maurice Alley, of Palmerston North, made the introductions.

He has known the adopted Chinese branch of the family for 35 years, since he visited his uncle's house in Beijing.

Officially opening the exhibition on its first stop since a launch in Auckland earlier this year, city councillor Tangi Utikere said it was appropriate to celebrate and acknowledge the work of an outstanding New Zealander.

The opening also coincided with several anniversaries, including 60 years of the New Zealand-China Friendship Society, 40 years since diplomatic relations were founded between New Zealand and China, and 30 years since Mr Alley was granted honorary Chinese citizenship.

"He seemed to have a real connection with the Chinese community, a sense of understanding of their working conditions, and a sense of co-operation."

The exhibition includes some 60 photographs and artworks chronicling Rewi Alley's work and friendships in China.

He first went there in 1927, after abandoning the idea of farming, to see what the Chinese Revolution was all about.

He began in Shanghai as a fireman.

His concern for the people and the poverty they lived in prompted him into relief work.

A secret member of the Communist Party, he saw education as key to improving lives, starting with industrial co-operatives which created jobs for workers and refugees escaping the Japanese invasion.

His motto for the co-operatives, "Gung Ho, Work Together", entered the English language.

He moved on to become headmaster of the Shandan Bailie School.

By 1953 Mr Alley had settled in Beijing. He was a prolific writer about China, and travelled to speak on behalf of international peace agencies, such as the World Peace Council. His house in Beijing now houses the offices of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.


- Manawatu Standard www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/7516579/Art-exhibition-sheds-light-on-Rewi-Alley

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What would Rewi Alley say?
PAT BOOTH
Last updated 05:00 06/08/2010


OPINION: Not for the first nor the last time, I regret the long-ago death of Rewi Alley, the New Zealander who is one of China's acclaimed heroes.

He devoted 60 years to setting up schools and thousands of industrial co-operatives there. He wrote of them "fitting into the vast landscape of rural China". His slogan was: "Yo Banfa!" – "There is a way." He retained independent views in a country where such attitudes were suspect – and still are. His mana was unquestioned.

In particular, I remember a long conversation with him in Beijing in 1983, when he talked gloomily of his deep misgivings about China's dogmatic one-child family policy. He feared for the effects on the domestic and family life of the nation he loved, a doubt amounting to communist heresy.

I wish I now had the chance to hear his no-doubt equally searching analysis on the present.

Would the man who then talked and wrote so enthusiastically of China – "its industry is people's industry ... there are no super monopolies, financial barons, profit-grubbing individuals" – include the new Corporate China under his umbrella of "Yo Banfa!"? As it is, China – its size, its growth, its two-million-plus strong army, its intentions, its astounding feats in science and engineering, the influence it could have on our economy and lifestyle – strikes a number of New Zealand nerves all at the one time.

That's clear from the range of reactions to Martin Jacques, author of When China Rules The World, who was quoted in this column last issue.

Sadly, inevitably, one response was to label the facts as racist, colonialist and wrong. For one tradesman, the issue was the impact of low-paid migrant workers on his work patterns. Others were concerned over possible foreign buy-ups of dairy land like the Crafar farms.

For most, there was a belief that the issues raised were too important for the government to shape trade and diplomatic policies without more input from an obviously unsettled public.

One man's experience: "Thank God someone is awake to what is going on; we in New Zealand are very naive and gullible as is most of the world with regards to the Chinese agenda. Now that China has awoken, the rest of the world seems to have fallen asleep!

"I lived in Hong Kong for 11 years and have travelled to many cities in China – and have good Chinese friends, but the dragon is far-reaching.

"Deng Xiaoping struck `wealth is glorious' in the hearts of the Chinese people. I have a feeling it will continue to sound for a thousand years to come.

"My immediate interest is seeing how long it will take before Chinese aid money starts going into Fiji and if the Americans will be concerned about subsequent infrastructures being built there (probably not)." – Robert Sutherland

A Chinese protest: "With all due respect, I am speechless at this kind of racist approach. You are talking about domination, cultural and economical. You state that Chinese are buying up land to feed their people. At least they pay for it unlike others (who set up) just colonies in other countries or try to invade them.

"What about depleting the food and money stocks and imposing high taxes that helped cause the terrible famine of 1770, which killed a third of the people of Bengal?

"After the loss of the Thirteen Colonies in 1783, the British government turned to the newly discovered lands of Australia, killing around 5 percent of indigenous Australians in the early years of British colonisation. Also killing many Maori.

"You talk about respect. I speak English, so do most of the Chinese people, how many of you speak Maori or any other language, putting an existing culture into a museum so you can forget it exists, so you don't feel scared. We have minorities in our country but we don't put them into museums as tourist attractions.

"You say that Chinese people are careless of the environment and cruel to animals? What about depleted uranium? Only the West are known to have fired it in warfare.

"You are concerned about the environment – maybe how all the junk that comes from the $2 shops will be recycled?

"Since I have been in New Zealand some Kiwis act as if you fell from the sky into this beautiful country. You live and act as though you don't have any history besides the kiwifruit, the kiwi bird, fish and chips.

"But you do and the history you have doesn't give you the right to judge. It just gives you the right to learn better ways. Maybe all of this would help you to become a nation, not just individuals."

One man's boycott: "We need more of such material in the media to educate those who support China's brutal regime by knowingly or unknowingly buying low priced Chinese imports.

"Unable to stop Helen Clark's government from cozying up to the world's foremost abusers of the environment, people, and other animals – and unable to stop John Key's continued whoring for Fonterra – I have persevered in my boycott of new Chinese goods which I began after the Tiananmen Square massacre.

"Even though I do not have a rich man's account, I pay more for goods to avoid supporting the Chinese, American or Indonesian governments. I buy secondhand when it's too daunting to find an alternative country-of-origin. Particularly important was the mention of China's animal abuse, since no one wants to talk about things like that. Video footage taken out of China shows everyday scenes of a level of horror that even Auckland's vivisectors wouldn't reach (maybe).

"One excuse for trade with China has always been that it's good for them to be exposed to other influences. But as the writer inferred, the Chinese have no impetus to learn from gentler governments. They are in the driver's seat." – Bill Leonard, Grey Lynn

A grandmother's memory:

"Growing up in the Pacific, I remember my grandmother telling of a priest who predicted things that later happened, like a volcanic eruption, a flooded river from the mountains, at one of the main islands, Savai'i.

This priest even showed villagers the path the flooded river would take. One of his predictions was that `China will rule the world". – Siva Meki

- Opinion www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/local-blogs/off-pat/3994702/What-would-Rewi-Alley-say

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Kiwi named China's top 10 friend
BY MICHAEL FIELD
Last updated 08:35 09/12/2009

New Zealander educator Rewi Alley has been named as one of China's top ten international friends for "making exceptional contributions to the country in the past 100 years."

China Radio International (CRI) ran an Internet poll to select the top ten which included Canadian doctor Norman Bethune who died during the Sino-Japanese War, German John Rabe who rescued 250,000 Chinese during the Nanjing Massacre and International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch Toriello who supported China's Olympic bid.

CRI says Rewi Alley went to China 80 years ago out of curiosity.

Born in Springfield, Canterbury, Alley went to China in 1927 and stayed.

David Somerset, Alley's nephew, told CRI that Alley was a man who would do great things in China.

"However, he came from a family that had very strict ideas about the way you should lead your life," Somerset said.

"For them, life was very serious business. You didn't tackle it lightly. You endeavoured and tried to form the world. You had to go out and help people instead of doing nothing."

In 1942, Alley set up the Bailie School in northwest China's Shaanxi Province to train technical workers.

To avoid bombings by the Japanese, the school was later moved to isolated Shandan County in northwest China's Gansu Province where it became the renowned Shandan Bailie School and trained many technical workers for New China.

Liu Guozhong, Vice President of the Shandan Bailie School, said, everyone in Shandan County knows Rewi Alley and adores him.

"No matter if you are in the countryside or cities in China, when talking about Alley, everyone knows that he was involved in the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Movement and the Shandan Bailie School."

CRI said Alley was, for a time, treated as a traitor by the New Zealand government.

But his family members and friends in New Zealand did not abandon him and established the New Zealand China Friendship Society.

Eric Livingstone, current president of the society, said thanks to Alley the relationship between China and New Zealand has become quite intimate.

"We have been proud to meet major Chinese leaders before they went to other European countries," Livingstone said. "We think it is because Rewi left the legacy of saying we are friends. So I think he has always been our great hero."

Judy Livingstone, Eric Livingstone's wife, was also in charge of the friendship society. Both of them are retired and work at the organisation for free.

"Because we like the Chinese people and Rewi Alley inspired us, we would like the people of the two countries to be closer," Livingstone said.


Alley died in Beijing in 1987.

Others on the top ten list included Edgar Snow, an American journalist who wrote "Red Star over China" in the 1930s to make the Chinese Red Army world famous; Dr. Joseph Needham, a British scientist who spent some 50 years writing a milestone masterpiece "Science and Civilization in China", Poland-born Chinese citizen Israel Epstein, Indian doctor Kwarkanath Kotnis, Thai princess Maha Chakri Sirindhom and Morihiko Hiramatsu of Japan.

- Stuff www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/3142080/Kiwi-named-Chinas-top-10-friend

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Archive footage of humanitarian restored
Last updated 00:00 01/01/2009


DAVID HALLETT/ The Press
HISTORIC INSIGHT: Robert Trowland with the restored video version of archive film of Canterbury humanitarian Rewi Alley, shot in China in 1987, just before his death.

Archive footage of Canterbury humanitarian Rewi Alley – filmed in China just two weeks before his death – has been restored.

The footage was shot in Beijing Hospital in 1987 when Alley was 90.

It shows him talking to two New Zealanders on a trade delegation.

The 15 minutes of footage has been restored by archivists at the Christchurch Video Camera Club and will be shown at St James Church in Barrington Street tonight.

The footage was given to the camera club for restoration by a Christchurch City Council member who knew the people who shot it.

Alley, who went to Christchurch Boys' High School, became famous in the 1930s and 1940s for his humanitarian work in China.

Camera club secretary Robert Trowland said the footage was a fascinating piece of historic film.

"He is talking to visitors about cattle and farming. He says thathe gets up at 8.30 every morning and pounds the typewriter.

"He has a good laugh about problems with the camera and even has afew wise words for the young," he said.

Retired University of Canterbury sociology professor Bill Willmott said the footage was an insight into Alley's final days.


- The Press www.stuff.co.nz/national/127255/Archive-footage-of-humanitarian-restored