Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ａｃｔｉｖｉｔｉｅｓ ｉｎ Ｂｒｉｅｆ

CPAFFC Delegation Visits Ecuador， the Bahamas and Venezuela

Invited by the Ecuador-China Friendship Association and friendly personages of Venezuela and the Bahamas， a CPAFFC delegation paid a goodwill visit to the three countries from April 25 to May 13. The delegation called on Governor General Dame Ivy Dumont， Ms Marilyn Sonneck， deputy permanent secretary of foreign affairs， and Ron Pinder， parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Health and Environment of the Bahamas， Quito Mayor Paco Moncayo and Cuenca Mayor Fernando Condor of Ecuador， and took part in the celebrations for the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Ecuador-China Friendship Association and had working conferences respectively with friends in Venezuela and the Bahamas. Leader of the delegation Wang Hongqiang made a speech entitled New Measures for China’s Development at the Salestiana University in Ecuador. (Liu Fang)

Ugandan Minister of Local Government Visits China

Prof. Tarsis B. Kabwegyere， minister of local government of Uganda and his party paid a friendly visit to Beijing， Shanghai and Guangdong from May 27 to June 3 at the invitation of the CPAFFC.

Seeing the busy construction scenes in all three cities they visited， Prof. Kabwegyere， head of the delegation， said， China is like a plane in the sky. It flies straight ahead once the rudder is in a firm hand. He held that the most commendable quality of the Chinese people is that they stick to their own road of development and have achieved brilliant successes in economic construction of their country in the past 20 years， bringing hope to other developing countries， especially medium-sized and small countries in Africa. China has set an example for Uganda to learn from.

The minister said， the Chinese people are good friends of the Ugandan people. There exists a long history of friendship between Uganda and China. Uganda has always received valuable support from China whether in its struggle against the colonial rule or in its national construction. Uganda and China have always sympathized with and supported each other in international affairs and the Ugandan Government upholds the one-China policy.

During the delegation’s stay in China， Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

was attending the Scaling Up Poverty Reduction Conference in Shanghai and is paying a state visit to China， which， Kabwegyere said， was the sign of further warming up of bilateral relations. He said that there would be more Ugandan delegations to visit China in the future to learn from China’s experience and that the Ugandan local governments hoped to strengthen all-round friendly cooperation with Chinese local governments. After visiting the Songjiang District of Shanghai， Kabwegyere said that Mbarara Municipality of Uganda would like to have friendly exchanges with Songjiang. (Lin Yi)

Youth Activities Marking 25 Years of China-US Diplomatic Relations

2004 sees the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. To mark this important event in Sino-US relations， the CPAFFC sponsored a series of activities---the China-US Youth Great Wall Friendship Relay Race， the China-US Youth Forum and the China-US student exchange respectively in Beijing， Shanghai and Hangzhou.

In collaboration with the China International Travel Service and organized by the American “Envision Program”， 61 American students studying international politics or international relations from 55 universities in the United States took part in these activities. 300 university students from over 10 universities in Beijing， Shanghai and Hangzhou also participated in these commemorative activities. CPAFFC President Chen Haosu attended the China-US Youth Forum held in Shanghai and made a keynote speech. He gave a briefing on China’s people-to-people diplomacy to the Chinese and American students and expressed the hope that the youth of the two countries would make joint efforts for the development of China-US relations in the new century. Vice Foreign Minister Zhou Wenzhong， Deputy Governor of Zhejiang Province Sheng Changli and CPAFFC Vice President Li Xiaolin attended the activities respectively in Beijing and Hangzhou.

Through the above activities， the Chinese and American students obtained a more comprehensive knowledge of the course of development of China-US relations and deepened their understanding of each other’s countries and cultures. Though the students of the two countries had differences in their understanding of issues they discussed， they all held that it was very important for both countries to strengthen communication， enhance understanding and develop China-US relations and expressed that they would make concerted efforts and strive for further development of China-US relations in the new century. (Shen Xin)

Chinese Artists Perform at Festival of the Spring of Comedians in France

At the invitation of the Festival of the Spring of Comedians of France， the show Lanterns and Dragons， a programme for the China Culture Year worked out jointly by the CPAFFC and Mr. Daniel Bedos， director of the Festival in Montpellier， was staged at Le Chateau d’O in Montpellier from June 4 to 27. The Chinese artists gave 24 performances altogether.

Lanterns and Dragons was a 2-hour show consisting of seven traditional Chinese art forms， namely， Peking Opera， instrumental folk music， Chinese cuisine， acrobatics， Shaolin wushu (martial arts)， puppet show and Chuanju Opera performed by 30 artists from Beijing， Henan， Fujian and Chengdu.

The prefect and assemblymen of Herault where Montpellier belongs watched the premiere on June 4 and gave a celebration party for the Chinese performers after the show. The prefect spoke highly of the Chinese artists who had given a high quality show for the French audience. The performance attracted the attention of local media. A dozen local newspapers and magazines including L’Herault du Jour， Midi Libre， Midi Loisirs， L’Art Vue， etc. carried articles on the show and Radio Clapas and the cable TV Canal + gave special coverage of the activities of the Chinese artists in France. (Wu Yuna)

Beautiful Iceland Photo Exhibition Held

Beautiful Iceland Photo Exhibition， jointly sponsored by the CPAFFC， the Embassy of Iceland in China， the People’s Daily and the Chinese Photographers Association (CPA)， was held at the Friendship Museum of the CPAFFC on June 17 to celebrate the 60th National Day of Iceland.

The more than 70 photos on display were taken by Li Renchen， former deputy editor-in-chief of the People’s Daily， council member of the CPA and adviser to CPA’s Journalistic Photography Committee. He recorded with his camera the beautiful landscape of Iceland and happy scenes of the Icelandic people living and working in peace and contentment. These photos showed the harmony between man and nature.

Chen Kuiyuan， vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference， Zhang Yesui， vice foreign minister， leading members of the relevant departments of the State Council and ambassadors of several countries attended the opening ceremony， at which CPAFFC President Chen Haosu， Icelandic Ambassador to China Eidur Gudnason， Editor-in-Chief of the People’s Daily Wang Chen， CPA Vice President Yu Jian and Li Renchen spoke.

Art Exhibition---Hands Across the Pacific

Hands Across the Pacific， an art exhibition cosponsored by the CPAFFC and the Global Canada Cultural Exchanges， opened in the National Museum of China on July 5. Leading members of the sponsor organizations， the Chinese Artists’ Association and the China Arts and Crafts Association， and diplomats of the Japanese， Canadian and Korean (ROK) embassies in China attended the opening ceremony.

On display were 132 pieces of art works---paintings， traditional and contemporary arts and crafts， sculptures and photos---by 103 artists， of which 98 pieces by 81 Japanese artists， 19 by 17 Canadian artists and 15 by 6 Korean artists.

Covering a wide range of subjects， varied in style and created from unique visual angles and full of imagination， the exhibits not only showed the artistic talent of the artists， but also their love for a happy life and their pursuit of niceties.

The exhibition has provided a good opportunity for the Chinese visitors and artists alike to appreciate and learn， and contributed positively to the promotion of friendship and mutual understanding between the people of China and the people of Japan， Canada and the Republic of Korea. (Zhou Jianping)

Seminar on the Prousion Health Product Series

The Seminar on the Prousion health product series attended by first-rate experts jointly sponsored by Health Daily published by the Chinese Preventive Medical Association and the China Friendship Peace and Development Foundation was held in the Friendship Museum of the CPAFFC on July 19， 2004.

The series of the Prousion health products was developed by Dr. Masakazu Hashimoto， a noted Japanese biologist， through years of research.

At the seminar the Japanese and Chinese experts had an in-depth discussion on the function， fundamentals and mechanism of the products. The two sides said that they would carry out cooperation in research in the future so as to make the products perfect in safety and function.