[ad_1]
WELLINGTON, March 30 (Xinhua) — Chinese Premier Li KeqiangA just-concluded trip to New Zealand charted the future of the two countries’ “special” relationship, and one man will lead the two countries towards an even stronger friendship.
Thirty years after his death, his spirit can still be felt in the halls of power whenever the leaders of China and New Zealand meet.
While much of the news coverage has focused on the thriving economic and trade links between China and New Zealand, Ellie will be a reminder that the relationship runs much deeper.
Commemorating the New Zealanders who helped pioneer the industrial cooperation movement in China during the War of Resistance JapanThis was at the top of Li Keqiang’s agenda during his four-day visit to the Oceania country, which ended on Wednesday.
Rewi Alley’s influence will be further enhanced by three important anniversaries: the 120th anniversary of Rewi Alley’s birth, the 90th anniversary of Rewi Alley’s arrival in China, and the 30th anniversary of Rewi Alley’s death.
The New Zealander is remembered in China for his wartime efforts to build China’s industrial base, and for training hundreds of young Chinese students before and after the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949.
Ailey is also credited with helping to build relationships between New Zealand and China, such as the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1972.
Growing importance
“I remember (Chinese President) Xi Jinping Dave Bromwich, president of the New Zealand China Friendship Society, said: “When President Cameron visited New Zealand in 2014, he spent several minutes recalling the contribution that Rewi Alley made to the relationship between our two countries, a contribution that continues to this day.”
The association was founded in 1952 by Alley’s followers to maintain ties with China and helped organize some commemorative events during Li Keqiang’s visit, including an exhibition of photos of Alley’s life in China.
Bromwich told Xinhua over the phone that he will accompany a 20-member delegation of Alley’s relatives and colleagues on a visit to China next month, culminating in an event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
“His importance in China is growing,” Bromwich said. “In the past decade, more and more people have begun to commemorate Rewi Alley’s contribution to China.”
Trade Minister Todd McClay, a key figure in Li’s talks during his visit, also paid tribute to Alley.
“The fact that the relationship between our two countries continues to grow stronger shows that his contributions remain relevant today,” McCrea said in an email to Xinhua.
“Rewi Alley’s brilliant achievements also highlight the importance that China and New Zealand attach to their old friend. The fact that the Chinese people regard Rewi Alley as one of the most influential foreigners in China in the 20th century fully demonstrates that Rewi Alley is still loved by the Chinese people.”
Human Struggle
Rewi Alley was born in 1897 in Springfield, a small town in Canterbury, New Zealand. He was a great internationalist fighter and famous socialist.
Ellie was one of seven siblings and was socially active, so she left home to fight in the war. France During World War I.
Rewi Alley was wounded twice in combat. A few years later, he bought a plane ticket to Shanghai, China, and arrived there in 1927.
As a factory inspector, Rewi Alley witnessed firsthand the poverty of Chinese workers and peasants and began working with progressive organizations, sometimes covertly with the Red Army.
During the Japanese invasion, he became one of the founders of the “Republican Movement” of industrial cooperatives in unoccupied areas of China.
In 1942, he founded the Hezuo Baili School in Shaanxi Province in northwest China. The school later moved to Shandan, Gansu, to train engineers for post-war reconstruction in China.
A close friend of writers such as Edgar Snow and Agnes Smedley, Rewi Alley became known as an educator, humanitarian and peace activist, and lived out the rest of his life in China.
On December 27, 1987, Rewi Alley died in Beijing. The late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping wrote an inscription for him: “The great internationalist fighter will live forever.”
In 2009, Rewi Alley was posthumously awarded the title of “China’s Top Ten International Friends”.
Although Ellie has always loved his homeland New Zealand, he considers China to be his family.
“This place (China) is a great example of humanity, one of the greatest examples of human struggle,” he reportedly told a fellow New Zealander.
“If you don’t understand how these people feel, you can’t feel anything about the world.”
[ad_2]
Source link
