Hundreds march in Auckland to protest against racism towards Asian

Hundreds of people gathered in central Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday to rally for the "Stop Asian Hate" movement.

Hundreds of people gathered at the Aotea Square in Auckland CBD to speak out their anger against the racism toward Asians in the United States and New Zealand, before marching along the Queen Street.

The aim of the event was not only to stand in solidarity with Asian Americans who have experienced extreme abuse and lived in daily fear, but to also create awareness of the pain that Asians in New Zealand face, said the organizer on the event's social media page.

"What does the American shooting toward Asian people has to do with us Kiwi Asians? We share common skin color. We look at them, and we wonder, that could be us. It is our people. When people are attacked based on their skin color, we see ourselves there, we share that pain," said Steph Tan, one of the organizers.

New Zealand Member of Parliament Naisi Chen delivered a speech and led in the march.

Being a Chinese and Asian New Zealander, she talked about the painful feeling when she heard the news about racism against Asians in New Zealand.

"New Zealand is our home too," said Chen.

New Zealand Member of Parliament Melissa Lee and Auckland Councillor Paul Young also attended the event to show support.

Julia Liu, one of the organizers, was excited to see the support by New Zealand people during the rally.

Participants chanted "stop Asian hate", "love our culture, love our people" and "We belong to Aotearoa (New Zealand)" in their march along the Queen Street.

A research released by the New Zealand Human Rights Commission on February revealed that the Maori people along with the Chinese communities had reported the highest rates of discrimination since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the research, four in 10 respondents in New Zealand reported having experienced discrimination since the start of the outbreak, with higher rates for Maori people (55 percent), Chinese (54 percent), Pacific (50 percent), and other Asian (49 percent) respondents.