Ｂｏｏｋ Ｓｅｒｉｅｓ Ｌｉｇｈｔ ｏｎ Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｐｕｂｌｉｓｈｅｄ

On December 11， 2003， the China Society for People's Friendship Studies (PFS) and the Foreign Languages Press (FLP) jointly held a launch reception for the English book series Light on China. Huang Hua， honorary president of the PFS， and Cheng Siwei， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress， among about 150 people， attended the reception. I. Epstein， member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference， spoke on the occasion.

The series of some fifty books are published by the FLP， of which twenty-six were published in 2003 and the rest will roll off the press before the National Day in 2004. All these books were written in English by famous foreign journalists， writers and observers， many of whom have lived in China for a long time and worked and fought together with the Chinese people， and some of whom specially came to China for in-depth interviews. These international friends who came from different countries， used different languages， had different skin colours and held different views all sympathized with the Chinese people in their sufferings， from different angles supported the Chinese people's struggle and contributed greatly to the revolutionary cause of the Chinese people. Some of them had even sacrificed their precious lives for it. They traced and reported the real historical development of modern China， that is from humiliation-through struggle-to victory. The series summed up the history of the Chinese people's struggle in the past several decades， especially the course of the new-democratic revolution and the socialist revolution under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. These books with rich contents and full and accurate data written from an objective and impartial stand， with a friendly attitude and in fluent and beautiful language have high readability and attractiveness. What is more， written from the angle of seeking understanding and friendship with the Chinese people and helping foreigners understand the Chinese people， these books are good teaching materials for carrying out education in internationalism and patriotism.

Some of these books have been translated into Chinese and are available to Chinese readers. Some have long been out of print abroad and are hard to get by foreign readers. Ling Qing， president of the PFS， said at the reception， \"The purpose of the republication of the English series Light on China is not only to carry forward the fine qualities and dedication of these international friends， promote contacts， mutual understanding and cooperation between the peoples of China and other countries and safeguard world peace， but also to cherish the memory of these friends and convey our solicitude. The series catering to both Chinese and foreign readers， particularly the young Chinese readers who have mastered or are studying English， can help them correctly and fully understand and know about the modern Chinese history and the great achievements of China today.

Some books of the series were written a long time ago， such as Tiping Tien Kwoh， History of the Tiping Revolution written in 1886 by Augustus F. Lindley， a British writer， vividly recording the Chinese peoples' heroic struggle against imperialism and feudalism.

In his speech， Chen Hui， executive director of the Editorial Committee， talked about the arrangement of the series. He said， it was a pity that owing to copyright matters and other difficulties， some eligible books had not been arranged for. In the future this work will be continued so as to ensure that every good book of such kind will not be missed by the broad masses of readers.

This is a pioneering work that has historic significance and far-reaching influence， and a great project that will benefit the present and the future generations.