1876: Pembridge House
September 19, 2019
By AHNZ
Pembridge House (opposite to the clock tower of the University of Auckland) was built in 1876 on the site of the old military base. Back then it was a nice aloof street for wealthy merchants to live at a distance from the regular ruffians. When Auckland expanded they had to find that sanctuary elsewhere!
Until last year part of the university used the building for the likes of the economics and law schools. Auckland Council seem to be the owners now and lease it to the university who sublet to their partners, the Chinese Government, in the form of The Confucius Institute.
“Confucius Institute also has non-academic goals. Li Changchun, the 5th-highest-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee, was quoted in The Economist saying that the Confucius Institutes were “an important part of China’s overseas propaganda set-up””.- Wiki
Apart from, perhaps, keeping an eye on the Chinese (and Hong Kong) students in Auckland the Institute is also busy helping primary and intermediate children learn to like Communist China better by way of outreach programs. This new set up in Auckland is a replica of how the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China has set itself up in dozens of other Western cities. Many of these it has been kicked out of amid controversy and concerns of political espionage.
So far so good for the Auckland branch of the PRC though. As far as I know, the post you’ve just read is the meanest thing anybody ever said about our Comrade guests here.
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Note: It’s nice the Chinese Communists still call their inner circle ‘Politburo’ just like ol’ Stalin did.
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