Advancing with Time, Making Exploration and Innovation

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 19, 2001

Advancing with Time, Making Exploration and Innovation

The year 2001 is a year in which our Party has continued its triumphant advance and scored brilliant achievements. The Party has made pioneering efforts and achieved great success in its external work.

Following is the full text of the interview by People's Daily Correspondents Sun Dongmin and Xu Baokang with Dai Bingguo, head of the Liaison Department of the CPC Central Committee, on the Party's external work

The year 2001 is a year in which our Party has continued its triumphant advance and scored brilliant achievements. The Party has made pioneering efforts and achieved great success in its external work. Recently, People's Daily correspondents had an interview with Dai Bingguo, head of the Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC)

QUESTION: Director Dai, please say something about the new characteristics of the Party's external work this year.

ANSWER: The world situation is complicated and changeable, but strengthening friendly contacts, defending world peace, promoting common development and pushing forward human progress have become the strong desires of various countries and political parties of different types. Our Party is bold in making innovation, progressing with time, loving peace and devoting its efforts to development, which has earned it a good image and has attracted the attention of various countries and political parties around the world.

The important characteristics of our Party's external work this year are as follows:

First, inter-party contacts between ranking officials have become more active. More than 200 political party delegations from over 100 countries have visited China this year, Party and State leaders have met with more than 100 delegations of them. Our Party has also sent out over 100 delegations to visit the Five Continents. The most important one is General Secretary Jiang Zemin's visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which was a major event in the relations between the two parties and two countries of China and Korea and has thus aroused extensive attention from around the world. Comrade Hu Jintao visited Viet Nam, during which he reached important consensus with the old and new leaders of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party on jointly propelling the development the China-Vietnamese good neighborly relations of friendship and cooperation in the new century. These historic visits have laid a solid foundation for the healthy and steady development of China-Korean and China-Vietnamese relations in the 21st century, they have exerted and will continue to exert important impact on peace and development in this region and even the world at large. Wei Jianxing, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and other central leading comrades including Ding Guangen, Li Changchun, Wu Guanzheng Luo Gan, Jia Qinglin, Huang Ju and Zeng Qinghong have also visited related countries. These contacts and exchanges between ranking officials have greatly enhanced mutual understanding and trust, giving a great impetus to the development of inter-Party relations and inter-State ties.

Second, the exchange of experiences in the administration of State and political party and in Party building has become deeper. With an eye on the new century and the needs of Party and national construction, in our external contacts this year, we will pay more attention to the exchanges and discussions with foreign parties on the experiences in the administration of the Party and State. We have held a number of international symposiums of political parties on theoretical and practical problems such as "new century, new changes and political parties" and "the reality and prospect of socialism"; we have sent out a dozen or so special subject investigation groups to study questions such as Party building, construction of clean and honest government, and the relations between the market and society in foreign countries, thus enriching the form and connotation of inter-Party contacts and adding fresh vigor to the development of our Party's relations with foreign political parties.

Third, we have given better play to the advantages of the Party's external affairs, thus making a good beginning in the Party's external contacts in the new century. Over the past year, the Party's external contacts have become more active, extensive, varied in form and rich in content. To coordinate with the country's overall diplomacy, our contacts with the political parties, parliaments and senior officials of countries, with which China has not yet established diplomatic relations, have undergone constant expansion and deepening, we have made many new friends. In order to maintain the continuity and stability of inter-State relations, we have vigorously developed exchanges and cooperation with the main out-parties in various countries. To strengthen friendly exchanges with young statesmen in developed countries and temp the foundation for inter-State relations, we have set up a mechanism for regular exchanges with young statesmen of principal political parties in some important countries.

Q: At the meeting celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, General Secretary Jiang Zemin delivered an important speech, making brilliant expositions on the thought of the "three represents". It is said that many foreign political parties show great interest in it, please say something about the situation in this regard.

A: Around the time of "July 1", we received letters and telegraphs of congratulations from more than 100 political parties. The political parties in various countries expressed congratulations on and admiration for the brilliant achievements scored by China under the leadership of the Party over the past 80 years. The important thought of General Secretary Jiang's "three represents" has become the focus of attention of the political parties in various countries and the most important topic of conversation in inter-Party exchanges this year. Many political parties of foreign countries highly admire this important thought, believing that the CPC is a ruling party being bold in and good at conducting theoretical exploration and innovation, they have expressed the hope to strengthen exchanges and discussions with our Party on Party construction, in theory and practice. The publication of the important thought of the "three represents" further shows to the world the CPC's good image and exerts far-reaching influence.

Q: Defending world peace and promoting common development so as to strive for a good external environment for our reform and construction have always been the central tasks of China's overall diplomacy. How is this role expressed in the external contacts of political parties?

A: Currently, our Party is maintaining ties and contacts with over 400 political parties of different types in more than 140 countries. In our contacts with political parties in neighboring countries, we devote our efforts to good neighborly friendship, enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation and safeguarding regional peace and stability. As a result, our Party's contacts with the political parties in the ASEAN countries have become closer, consensus has increased; our Party has deepened exchanges with the Korean Labor Party and with various major political parties of the Republic of Korea (ROK); Despite the constant frictions in China-Japanese relations, inter-Party contacts have continued to be carried out, links and ties are being maintained between statesmen; our Party's relations with the main political parties in Russia, India and Central Asian countries maintain a good momentum of development. We pay attention to exchange of experiences with the political parties in Asian, African and Latin American developing countries concerning the administration of State and political parties and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation. In order to coordinate the follow-up development of the China-African Cooperation Forum, we have held many investigation and discussion activities with some visiting African ruling parties; some Latin American political parties have sent delegations to China for discussions and investigations on further developing Latin American-Chinese political and economic cooperation. Our Party's contacts with the political parties in developed Western countries, particularly Western Europe, have become unprecedentedly active. More than 40 European Party delegations have visited China on invitation, we have also sent a number of delegations to visit Europe, and we, as the guest of the People's Party of the European Parliament, paid a first visit to the European Parliament, where we had frank conversations with all political parties and other organizations. This fact shows that our Party is able to make friends with political parties of various types in the world, link up with each other, eliminate prejudice, deepen trust and seek consensus.

Our Party's exchange with various foreign political parties carries the noble aim of safeguarding peace, promoting development and propelling human progress. On the occasion marking the Party's 80th founding anniversary, General Secretary Jiang Zemin wrote the inscriptions "Peace, development and progress" for the picture album we compiled and published that reflects the history of our Party's external contacts. These characters represent an incisive summary of the goal the Party pursues in its external work, they are a solemn declaration of the Party's historic mission in its external work in the new century.

With the notably rising role of economic factors in international relations, promoting economic and trade cooperation through political contacts has become the common view of statesmen in various countries as well as an important component part of the foreign affairs of political parties. Economic factors have been injected into our Party's external work. This year when members of the Political Bureau who are holding provincial and municipal leading posts were paying visits abroad, almost all of them had economic and trading personages in their company. Through contacts with political and economic circles in the countries they visited, they explored business opportunities for cooperation, and did much fruitful work. To coordinate the strategy for the large-scale development of the western region, in organizing delegations and groups to go abroad, we deliberately did this work in favor of western provinces and regions, we arranged over 70 groups of foreign political party delegations, particularly delegations and groups from the developed countries to go to the western region for sightseeing and visits. Through the channel of inter-Party contacts, we stressed the study of foreign experiences in the administration of State and political parties, and organized special subject study, striving to provide references for the Party and State to solve problems arising in reform and construction.

Q: Please say something about your personal experience in the Party's external contacts this year and the tentative plan for next year's work.

A: I deeply feel that our Party's international influence has unprecedentedly expanded. Many foreign political parties, through observation and thinking, have realized that behind China which has made rapid development and constant progress, stands erect the staunch and robust Communist Party of China. Based on the needs of their own construction and development of the State, they are all longing for understanding and knowing the CPC, getting to know its experiences gained over the previous 80 years and its "secret" of successful ruling for more than half a century, they pay attention to the question about what the Chinese Communists are thinking and doing, and how they are planning and creating future. In their contacts and exchanges with the CPC, they show very strong interest in everything.

The Party's 16th National Congress scheduled for next year will be an important event of far-reaching influence in our Party's history. As a functional department specialized in the Party's external work, the Liaison Department of the CPC Central Committee will, under the leadership of the Party Central Committee, continue to emancipate the mind, steadily and actively push forward and deepen its friendly exchange and cooperation with the political parties of various countries, continue to strengthen investigation and study on international issues, particularly the practical issues of major influence and reference significance to our national interests and to our Party's innovations of theory, system, science and technology and the construction of political power; it will extensively introduce our Party's theoretical propositions and ruling achievements, let the world have a better knowledge about and understanding of China and the CPC, so that the Party's external work will play a greater role in serving the country's overall diplomacy, serving reform and opening up, the consolidation and strengthening of the Party's ruling status and the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

By People's Daily Online

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