National Conference: 17 – 19 June, Auckland
Theme: “What do friends do? Renewing and enhancing NZ – China friendship in difficult times”.
Well, where do I start? I’ve gone to every annual conference since about 2010, and this one was undoubtedly the best. Best organised, best venue, best speakers, best everything really. I am keeping reporting below (on speakers in particular) to a minimum, otherwise this post would go on forever! For further information on the conference, go to our website’s Conference & AGM page where you will be able to access Past President Dave Bromwich’s Post Event Report and a Photo Gallery.
Including speakers, volunteers, etc there were probably 75 to 85 attendees. The conference was held in the Rewi Alley Commemoration Hall, which is part of the UUNZ Institute of Business facilities in central Auckland. This hall is such an amazing place I will do a separate article on it for our August newsletter.
The conference started on the Friday afternoon with the final meeting of the outgoing national executive, followed by a three hour Youth Forum with excellent young speakers. Alex Fraser and Laura Carter of the Christchurch branch spoke on their experiences of both teaching and learning in China.
Laura said she went for a six month teaching placement. “I couldn’t speak a word of Chinese but I got on a plane, and didn’t come home for two years”. She was bemused by the number of people who wanted a photo of her holding their babies! Those two years proved to be a defining time in her life.
Alex Fraser spoke on his studying Chinese at the Christchurch polytechnic. He then went to Lanzhou, Gansu province, where he taught English for six months. He also studied Chinese in Hong Kong and Beijing. Alex stressed that China is not what the media/movies show you; a very diverse country, the opposite to NZ.
Jake Law is a qualified primary teacher, with experience teaching locally and in Shanghai. He found China was nothing like what he imagined it would be i.e. modern and dynamic, not drab and dreary although he found the pollution bad at times.
Sisters Dani and Tee Hao-Aickin, two Chinese-Kiwi singer-songwriters inspired by their biracial upbringing, gave us a very interesting talk on their lives to date. They were born in New Zealand but from a very young age grew up in Guangzhou, where they studied classical music. Dani plays the piano and Tee the violin. They go by the name of Ersha Island, named for the Guangzhou island where they learnt to play. They began learning classical music at ages 5 and 3, practicing up to eight hours daily. Being biracial and having been raised in both countries meant at times they never felt where they actually belonged.
Every panellist spoke very well and had us all listening intently to their experiences. The conversation went on to how do we as a society reach the young. The panel stressed the importance of social media as a powerful tool. When young people go to China they need to blog and share their experiences.
At 5:00pm registration opened and delegates were welcomed by National President Dave Bromwich, which was followed by a very interesting talk from guest speaker Councilor Paul Young.
After that of course (as is always the tradition…) everyone went out to a Chinese restaurant!
Registration continued at 8:00am the following day, and at 9:00am there was a Mihi whakatau by members of NZ China Māori Friendship Charitable Trust (Chin-Māo) and welcome by MC Sylvia Yang. Auckland branch member George Andrews was to have also been an MC, but sadly was unable to attend as he had Covid. Paul Cutler, who has worked in the news media for more than 50 years, across five continents and is an International media consultant kindly stepped in to ably fill the role. At the last moment, Maurice Alley was also unwell so very sadly he and Dorothy were not able to attend this important conference.
China Ambassador Dr Wang Xiaolong praised the strong relationship between our countries, the healthy relationship between President Xi Jinping and PM Jacinda Ardern and acknowledged the legacy of Rewi Alley.
This was followed by a presentation by National President Dave Bromwich in which he celebrated 70 years of the founding of our society, 50th anniversary of the signing of the NZ-China bilateral agreement and 125th anniversary of the birth of Rewi Alley. He expressed concern that China is being misrepresented in the western media.
Patron Sir David Carter acknowledged national president Dave Bromwich for his eight years of service to the society. He commented on the divisions between the national body and the Auckland Branch, and the unbalanced reporting of China in the media. Having been a farmer for many many years he understood the market opportunities China has provided for our agriculture.
Ambassador Lin Songtian, President of Chinese Peoples’ Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries spoke via a pre-recorded video on its long relationship with our society and its commitment to keeping that link strong.
During the morning tea break, Ambassador Dr Wang Xiaolong and National President Dave Bromwich took part in the cake cutting ceremony to celebrate our 70th birthday and Rewi’s 125th.
It was then time for reporting back from the Friday youth workshop which was followed by a delightful musical performance by Ersha Island.
The Business Insights session in the afternoon saw a variety of inputs and insights on the challenges of dealing with western and Chinese perspectives.
David Mahon stressed how strong NZ branding was in China; New Zealand is in a very strong position on the China market. For many years Switzerland was considered the most trusted country, the one where anything related to food and beverage …or health or just integrity and engineering, Switzerland was the number one country for Chinese consumers. New Zealand now inhabits that space!
Trevor Johnston has dealt with Asia, and especially China for two decades. He said New Zealand has been greatly enriched both culturally and economically by the interactions
between our two societies and economies. He said a little more “guanxi” and a little less self-righteousness on the part of our Anglo heritage would go a long way to easing tensions.
This led through to the Media Perspectives portion of the conference. Andy Boreham (columnist, Shanghai Daily) has lived in China for many years, and stressed the importance of businesses doing their homework before they wished to trade in China.
To complete the session, John McKinnon gave a summary of his career with China from 1972 to the present day. He reminded those present how at our 2012 60th anniversary conference in 2012, he stated the society’s most important work was ahead of it; that position has not changed.
We were given a magical performance of the ever-fascinating face changing art form, which I suspect although some have seen it many times, it still always baffling to 99% of us as to exactly how it is done! No matter how closely you watch, these guys fool you every time!
Following this was the 100 Flowers Art Troupe, which gave a wonderful exhibition on traditional Chinese instruments.
This was followed by the taking of the obligatory group photographs….
… and then it was time to go back to our hotels, freshen up and head out for a well-earned banquet, which judging by the amount of noise and toasting, was enjoyed by all 120 diners!
Next morning it was a 9:00am start for the society’s Annual General Meeting, with about 20 in attendance (not a bad turn out for a Sunday morning!). Reports from the president, treasurer, national secretary and standing committees were tabled and briefly gone through.
Following elections (details of the 2022 national executive are on page?), the role of National President was formally passed from Dave Bromwich to incoming National President Chris Lipscombe.
Incoming National President Chris Lipscombe paid tribute to Dave’s service to the society, not just as President but going back decades. He will continue to play a very active and visible role in the organisation for the next two years at least and through engagement with China and through tours.
Chris presented Dave with a Life Membership of the society, in recognition of his sterling service.
Conclusion
A great conference, great speakers and great fellowship; in fact great everything. That it was pulled together in a few weeks via Zoom meetings by a committee composed of the senior executive of our society with great support from Auckland branch members Sylvia Yang and George Andrews is a tribute to all those involved. As MC right through the conference, Sylvia was outstanding, and her contribution to the success of this conference cannot be overstated. Thank You Sylvia!
Everybody will have undoubtedly gone back to their branches feeling reinvigorated and determined to continue the task of educating New Zealanders about the true story of China, and furthering the aims of global peace.
Dave Adamson
