ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ Ｃｈｅｎ Ｈａｏｓｕ Ｇｉｖｅｓ Ｌｅｃｔｕｒｅ ｏｎ Ｎｏｎｇｏｖｅｒｎｍｅｎｔａｌ Ｄｉｐｌｏｍａｃｙｔｏ ＵＳ Ｕｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔｙ Ｓｔｕｄｅｎｔｓ

At the invitation of China International Travel Service， on the afternoon of May 22， an American international exchange delegation visited the CPAFFC. The delegation， which consists of nearly 80 American students， is organized by the American Envision Program. CPAFFC President Chen Haosu met with the delegation and gave a lecture on China’s non-governmental diplomacy.

American Envision Program is a semi-governmental organization， engaged in exchanges between the youth of the U.S. and those of other countries. The visiting students from over 60 American universities are all top students majoring in international politics and international relations. We were told that quite a few of them will enter US State Department or other foreign affairs institutions after graduation.

President Chen extended warm welcome to the delegation coming to visit the CPAFFC on its 50th anniversary. He briefed the delegation on the history， nature and work of the CPAFFC and gave his views on non-governmental diplomacy and China-US relations. President Chen pointed out that nongovernmental diplomacy has three aspects， namely， political contacts， economic cooperation and cultural exchanges. All three aspects share the same pursuits: peace and friendship. The five principles of peaceful coexistence are not only China’s fundamental stand in dealing with international issues， but also the principles that the CPAFFC adheres to in its 50 years’ non-governmental diplomatic work. Referring to China-US relations， Presidents Chen said， the CPAFFC is willing to make contributions to the establishment of a stable and close cooperative relationship between the largest developed country and the largest developing country. He summarized three foundations for China-US relations， i.e. political foundation—the three China-US joint communiqués， social foundation—extensive people-to-people exchanges， and material foundation—economic cooperation. The work of the CPAFFC is to build a good social foundation and give positive influence on the political and material foundations. He pinned high hope on the American youth， saying that the fate of a country is in the hands of the younger generation. He hoped that through this visit， the American students would know and understand China better， become China’s friends and make contribution to China-US friendship in the future.

When responding to a question about the issues that China-US relations are faced with， President Chen said， China-US relations have experienced ups and downs. However， we believe that problems are only temporary and development is the irreversible trend. He particularly mentioned the China-US anti-terrorism cooperation. He said， entering the 21st century， people long for a century of peace and unity and a century that is far from war. But rampant terrorism has become the enemy of all the people in the world who cherish peace and security. While combating terrorism uncompromisingly， we should also correctly define terrorism and remove the hotbed that it relies on for its existence. Military blows are just like trying to stop water from boiling by scooping it up and pouring it back which will even make the problem worse. Only by removing misunderstanding and sowing friendship， which is like withdrawing the burning wood from a fire， can we get a temporary solution and then a permanent cure. President Chen emphasized the importance of friendship， pointing out that the Korean War Memorial in Washington， D.C. commemorates many American youth who were recruited into military service and sacrificed their lives in the war， but they had no idea why they should be hostile to the faraway country and fight the war with it. In contrast， the youth present here today are lucky， because they come to this faraway country to seek friendship instead of war. He hoped that the American youth would join us in cherishing peace and friendship and work hard to witness together with us the splendid future of China-US relations.

After President Chen’s speech， the delegation was divided into 6 groups and had discussions with the staffers of the Department of American and Oceanian Affairs of the CPAFFC.