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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, July 01, 2003

Opening a New Phase in Party's External Work: Interview

On the eve of "July 1", People's Daily correspondent had an interview with Comrade Wang Jiarui, the newly appointed head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), discussing questions including how to open a new phase in the Party's external work.


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At present, a new upsurge in the study of the "three represents" important thought is being set off in the whole Party. Under the guidance of this important thought, a new opportunity has now come for the vigorous development of the various fields of work of the Party. On the eve of "July 1", People's Daily correspondent had an interview with Comrade Wang Jiarui, the newly appointed head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), discussing questions including how to open a new phase in the Party's external work.

REPORTER: At the advent of the 82nd anniversary of the founding of the CPC, as the newly appointed director of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, would you please say something about your knowledge and understanding of the Party's external work?

WANG: Since its establishment, the Communist Party of China has been a political party having world foresight and attaching importance to its external work. Whether in the period of the agrarian revolution, or during the War of Resistance Against Japan and the period of the Liberation War, our Party had all along been maintaining friendly ties with various progressive forces in the world, thus winning extensive sympathy and support for Chinese revolution. The Party's external work had made indelible contribution to winning victory in Chinese revolution. In this sense, the Party's external work has, from the very beginning, been an important component part of the great cause of our Party.

After the birth of New China, the Party's external work became an important part of the country's overall diplomacy. By developing friendly contacts with Communist Parties and Workers Parties of various countries, our Party had played an irreplaceable role in breaking diplomatic blockade imposed on us by foreign hostile forces, in expanding the space for New China's international activities and in drawing the Chinese nation, who had just stood up, into extensive participation in international affairs.

Since the launch of the reform and opening up policy, with the shift of the focus of the Party's work, adjustment and supplement have also been made to the Party's external work in its guiding thought, basic principle and methods of exchange. Basing itself on the working purpose of serving reform, opening up and the socialist modernization drive and serving the Party's own construction, the CPC has gradually established new-type inter-party relations with various political parties in various countries around the world and has kept enriching and deepening the content of inter-party contacts, thus bringing about a leapfrog development in the Party's external work per se. In the new era and at the new stage, the Party's external work, like various other fronts, is faced with very broad prospects for development. So long as we closely rely on the correct leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Hu Jintao as the general secretary, always keep en eye on the general situation regarding the development of the whole Party and the entire country, give full play to our own advantages, and actively serve the various undertakings of the Party and the State, our Party's external work will definitely be crowned with new and still greater achievements.

REPORTER: Would you speak, in a more concrete way, how the Party's external work serve its various undertakings?

WANG: The Party's external work represents a window through which our Party observes, understands and heads for the world. In our times marking the devious development of the two major trends of the world multi-polarity and economic globalization, if we analyze the causes of the ups and downs of the political situations of various countries, the rise and decline, success and failure of various types of political parties, it will not be difficult for us to realize this truth: whether or not a political party can keenly get hold of the pulse of the world, accurately judge the characteristics of the epoch and keep pace with the times will directly determine its political vitality. In this respect, the International Department of the CPC Central Committee not only needs to implement the CPC Central Committee's principles and policies on its external work in connection with the study and implementation of the "three represents" important theory, it should also promptly conduct follow-up study of the international situation and the development of major international problems, grasp the situations and developments of various types of political parties and party organizations around the world and send reports on related situations and countermove proposals to the CPC Central Committee. The Party's external work serves the CPC's cause. There is another aspect of significance in the requirement that the Party's external work serves its own undertakings, that is, through inter-party exchanges, our Party cadres are enabled to go out of their country and advance toward the world; at the same time, we should invite friends from amicable political parties to come to visit China and to understand our State and our Party. Such "going out and inviting in" activities have become increasingly active in recent years, in 2001, the International Department received more than 300 batches of such friends, averaging one batch per day.

Party diplomacy is different from both governmental diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy in its general sense. It does not adhere to form and diplomatic rite, but instead it emphasizes in-depth dialogs and ideological exchanges; it does not directly handle concrete State-to-State affairs, but instead it lays a foundation for the long-range development of inter-State relations through enhancing mutual understanding and friendship among statesmen.

As a functional department engaging in the work of the Party's foreign affairs, an important task of the International Department is to engage in the investigation and study of international issues to serve the State's overall diplomacy. In recent years, we have organized forces to intensively analyze the deep-seated causes and review the experiences and lessons of the radical changes in the formers Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and the successive step-down of some large and old parties which had long been in power, conduct extensive studies on the new problems foreign ruling parties generally face and the new measures they have adopted, timely reflect the theoretical connotation and the latest development of different political trends of thought in the modern society, constantly refine our understanding of the changes in the political systems of various countries around the world and the law governing the rise and decline of political parties. These intelligent results have provided our Party with useful reference in absorbing nourishment from different political civilizations, boosting theoretical and practical innovations and improving the leadership method and enhancing ruling capability, and perfecting the leadership structure and working system. In addition, the Party's external work also actively coordinates with the country's economic development strategy and, through inter-party relationship, acts as a go-between to promote cooperation for local economic development and the project construction of relevant departments.

REPORTER: It can be said that through active and extensive external contacts, our Party has better understood the outside world which has, in turn, got better knowledge of our Party and our Party's cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

WANG:That's true. Here I can cite a statistic: over the part two decades and more, the International Department has received over 4,500 batches of foreign party delegations embracing 25,000 members/times. These included ruling parties, parties participating in administrative work and opposition parties. They also included Communist Parties and Worker Parties, as well as social parties, labor parties and conservative parties; they also embraced political parties from Europe, Japan and other developed regions and countries as well as political parties from developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Through carrying out various forms of exchanges and contacts of rich content, these political parties and senior officials, had direct meetings and talks with our Party leaders, and saw things in China with their own eyes not only helped dispel misunderstanding enhanced comprehension, many of them have become friends of our Party, all these have yielded positive influence on their governments' policies toward China. The International Department has also maintained contacts with the political parties from countries which have not yet established diplomatic relations with China, thus laying the groundwork for the establishment of state-to-state relations. These contacts have not only played a unique and important role in promoting the country's overall diplomatic work and spurring the healthy and steady development of China's relations with various countries around the world, but have also publicized our Party's policies in an all-round way and displayed our Party's good international image of its endeavor devoted to peace, development and progress. "trickling streams converge to become rivers." Around the time of the 16th National Congress of the CPC, over 300 political parties, organizations and senior officials from more than 140 countries sent nearly 800 telegraphs and letters of congratulations to our Party and our Party leaders. The fact that the congress of the CPC received so extensive concern and congratulations is rarely seen in the political history of the world's political parties.

REPORTER: As we look into the future, what's your plan for the Party's external work?

WANG: Early this new century, profound changes were taking place in the international situation and the situation of the world's political parties. Various types of political parties of various countries are considering how to adapt themselves to the objective situation, to seek subsistence and development. The Party's external work, as an important part of the Party's cause, should render better service for consolidating the ruling position of the Party through the work of liaison and investigation and study. The new upsurge set off by the whole Party and the entire nation for the study and implementation of the "three represents" important thought has brought a new opportunity for the Party's external liaison work. The "three represents" important thought is in the same line with Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, it is the guiding thought to which our Party must long adhere, it is also the guideline which the International Department must follow in its work for a long period of time to come. Considering that the Party's external work is an important component part of the Party's cause, in the future we should, in compliance with the requirements of the "three represents" important thought, more consciously carry it out in various items of work, including external association, investigation and study as well as the construction of ranks. Through implementing and practicing the "three represents" important thought, we should constantly open up new areas and create new methods for the Party's diplomatic work, so that we can give better expressions to the nature of the times and of law, can be highly creative and make new, still greater contribution to the construction of the Party and the development of the country, to promoting the human cause of peace, development and progress.

By People's Daily Online


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