Clearing ‘the Mists of Ignorance’: the New Zealand China Friendship Society in the 1970s
In a series of letters written in July 1975, Wilfred ‘Bill’ McAra applied for membership to the New Zealand China Friendship Society (NZCFS), formally known as the New Zealand China Friendship Society. ‘Dear Jack,’ he wrote in one letter, ‘Enclosed $4 to cover membership for Diana Wilsie and myself’. McAra and Wilsie, once-active members of the Communist Party of New Zealand (CPNZ), were passionate about Marxist-Leninist ideology and found common ground with the NZCFS. Along with the membership forms, McAra wrote, ‘I had intended earlier to commend the Society and its members, for its outstanding contribution in the struggle to secure Governmental recognition of the People’s Republic of China.’ As the National Secretary of the NZCFS at the time, Jack Ewen was perfectly happy to admit McAra and his partner into the group. Image: A NZCFS subscription form McAra would have likely filled out. Joan Donley Papers, MSS & Archives-2007/15, Series 4. File 4/4/B/1...