 |
"May Mankind Enjoy Everlasting Peace and Friendship": CPAFFC President
Wistfully, a Chinese girl is flying a white dove at the dawn of the new century.
This is a 8-meter-tall statue unveiled Monday within the compound of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), as a token of the Chinese people for ever-lasting peace and friendship to the international community.
Attending the unveiling ceremony were vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's congress Buhe, vice-chairmen of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Sun Fuling and Wang Wenyuan, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, CPAFFC President Chen Haosu and foreign diplomatic envoys.
"If war had a history of 5,000 years, it belonged to man's past; then peace is sure to last for 10,000 years, which will be the glory of man's future," said Chen Haosu.
CPAFFC, one of China's major non-governmental organizations, was established in 1954. Its unofficial diplomacy played an important role in setting up contacts and promoting friendly relations between China and the rest of the world.
Over the past decades, CPAFFC has contributed tremendously to the ever-growing friendship between the Chinese people and people of other countries.
CPAFFC has initiated the establishment of sister-city relationship and non-governmental cultural exchanges and has served as a bridge for economic cooperation between relevant Chinese departments and their foreign counterparts.
So far, CPAFFC has established cooperative relations with some 400 unofficial organizations in over 100 countries.
In addition, some 1,000 pairs of sister-city links had been established between Chinese provinces or cities and their foreign counterparts by the end of last year.
"Many times in China's history, people-to-people friendship has served to thaw state relations," Chen said, citing China's "Ping
Pong Diplomacy" in 1971, when China invited the U.S. table tennis team to visit China. This played a positive role in improving Sino-US relations. China and the US established diplomatic ties in 1979. Today, non-governmental diplomacy still has an important role to play in promoting understanding among people around the world, given the fact that differences exist in their social systems, ideologies and historical backgrounds, Chen said.
In the mid 1990s, the Chinese Little Swallow Art Troupe staged traditional performances in Washington D.C., attracting a large audience, thus enhancing mutual understanding between the two peoples.
In the past year, the CPAFFC hosted over 2,500 visitors from 80 countries. Among them were former U.S. President George Bush, former US Secretary of State Alexander Meigs Haig Jr., representatives of local governments, entrepreneurs and scholars.
In cultural exchanges, CPAFFC sent hundreds of Chinese visitors overseas to share with people of other countries China's rich and long-standing culture, including the Beijing opera, traditional Chinese medicine and cuisine, and to explore ways for Sino-foreign cooperation in diverse sectors.
In September 2000, CPAFFC hosted the China International Friendship Cities Conference in Beijing, during which 180 mayors from 48 countries signed a declaration to express their common aspiration to promote peace, friendship and non-governmental cooperation in the new century.
"CPAFFC will carry out more activities, especially for the upcoming APEC meeting in Shanghai scheduled later this year. In the meantime, we will accelerate the establishment of China-Europe Friendship Association," Chen said.
In the years ahead, CPAFFC will organize a series of activities to mark the Ping Pong Diplomacy, the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, Chen added. "May mankind enjoy everlasting peace, friendship and development in the new century," Chen said.
In This Section
|