Ｊｏｓｅ Ｍ． Ｇｏｍｅｚ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ Ｈｉｓｔｏｒｙ ｏｆ Ｃｈｉｎａ－Ｃｏｌｏｍｂｉａ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ

China and Colombia established diplomatic relations on February 7， 1980. It went through people-to-people contacts to official contacts until signing the communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations. A large number of Colombian friends who are enthusiastic in promoting the cause of friendship between Colombia and China have made precious contributions to the development of the ties and the establishment of diplomatic relations. Jose Maria Gomez is an outstanding representative of them.

Mr. Gomez was born of a rich family in Santa Fe De Bogotá， capital of Colombia. Since his youth， he has embraced radical ideology and thrown himself into the progressive movement and admired the cause of socialism in China. When he visited China as a member of the delegation of the Independent Revolutionary Workers’ Movement， a Colombian progressive organization， in 1976， I had the opportunity to accompany him. After the visit， his friendly feelings towards China grew deeper and he cherished higher respect for Chairman Mao， Premier Zhou and other Chinese leaders. He said to me with deep emotion， “Today， the victory of the Chinese revolution led by Chairman Mao seems so simple as if it were something inevitable in history. But， who thought of the road the Chinese revolution should take? Only Chairman Mao did. Now， who has thought of the way the Chinese socialist construction should be carried out? Only Chairman Mao has. One should first conceive an idea before he carries it out.” He thought the way to develop relations between Colombia and China is just like that. We should first work out a plan， then carry it out step by step， and finally reach the goal of establishing diplomatic relations. He told me a legend. In 1492 Columbus returned to Spain after having discovered America. Some people said what he had discovered was nothing but desolate wilderness. There was nothing wonderful. Anyone who led a fleet to sail to a distant place could do it. At a party， some people scorned at him again. Instead of getting annoyed， Columbus calmly took an egg and asked the guests who could make the egg stand on end without falling down on the table. Those who had gibed at him began to do the experiment carefully， but finally had to say， “It is impossible”. Columbus took over the egg and struck one end of the egg against the table lightly. The eggshell cracked a little. Then he put the cracked end of the egg against the table， and the egg stood on end. Most of the guests at the party could not but admire his cleverness， but those who refused to accept their failure said that it was nothing so admirable and that they only failed to come across the idea. Columbus said to them coldly that success or failure of a thing just depended on it. Though it seemed nothing so terrific， yet one had to think of it first before he was able to go about it. Gomez said that Columbus had solved the puzzle of making the egg stand on end by starting with finding a foothold. He would try to promote exchanges and cooperation between Colombia and China in the political， economic， trade and cultural areas by starting with developing friendship between the two countries. He also told me that he was planning to gather all the personages who wished to develop Colombia-China friendly relations and form a Colombian friendship organization with China to do down-to-earth work to promote the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and make the “egg of Colombia-China relations” stand up.

As expected， he did what he had said. In 1977 he together with personages of insight of the political， intellectual and business circles established the Colombia-China Friendship Association (CCFA)， and served as executive chairman of the first leading committee. At its initial stage， the CCFA was short of funds. Mr. Gomez not only provided the office and a secretary for the CCFA， but also used his own money to fund its activities for as long as 5 years. By relying on his social position and influence， he went round making contacts with people of all social strata from the leadership to the rank and file and gathered extensive political and economic forces to actively promote the development of Colombia-China friendly relations. Through his and other leading members’ persistent and hard work， the CCFA increased its membership rapidly. When I met Gomez again in 1979， he said to me excitedly， “In less than two years， the CCFA has established its branches in the capitals of all large provinces with more than 1，500 members.”

With the efforts made by Mr. Gomez and other CCFA leaders， the CCFA began to carry out activities vigorously on a big scale. In their routine work they publicized China in a rich and colorful way including showing Chinese films， holding Chinese arts and crafts， and newsphoto exhibitions and from time to time organizing lectures on various subjects about China. Meanwhile， they also organized or joined others in organizing many bilateral exchanges such as the visits to Colombia by Chinese football team， the Chinese volleyball team， the Chinese Central Song and Dance Ensemble of Nationalities and the Chongqing Acrobatic Troupe， and the visits to China by the delegation of Colombian members of Parliament， the delegation of Colombian journalists， etc. The rich activities carried out by the CCFA have won praises from various social circles in the country. A journalist once wrote an article in a newspaper， saying that the CCFA should be conferred upon the honorary title of “China’s specially accredited embassy in Colombia”.

In May 1979， invited by the CCFA， the CPAFFC sent a delegation to visit Colombia for paving way for establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. The CCFA made thoughtful preparations for the Chinese delegation’s visit， for this was an important visit which was made when the two countries had not yet established diplomatic relations， but was attached great importance to by the Colombian highest leaders. Gomez， executive chairman of the CCFA and Mr. Pery， president of the CCFA， made meticulous arrangements for the delegation’s 15-day stay. In order to expand the influence of the visit， the CCFA held a mass rally with an attendance of over 1，000 people in the San Bartolome Grand Theatre in Bogotá. The CCFA mobilized people of various circles to attend the rally， and specially invited TV stations， radio stations and major newspapers to give spot coverage. The speech by Hou Tong， head of the delegation， was interrupted three times by the warm applause of the audience. The first applause was given when Hou Tong talked about what he felt during this visit. When he spoke about China’s understanding of Colombia， the audience gave him a warm applause for the second time. Finally， Hou Tong said， “China and Colombia have shared similar historical experience， and today both are confronted with a common task. We are happy to notice that friendly contacts between the two peoples have been continuously increasing in the new historical period. Quite a number of Colombian friends from the political， law， journalistic and cultural circles have visited China， and among them some were received by Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. Chinese artists and friendly personages in other fields have also visited your country and were accorded warm reception by friends of various circles. Both China and Colombia belong to the Third World. We hope to establish and develop friendly relations with Colombia and more Latin American countries. We firmly believe that the day will soon come!” Before he finished his speech， a thunderous applause broke out in the theatre. The audience stood up， cheering rhythmically: “China! China!” It was a touching scene.

In the following days， the delegation visited six interior and coastal cities and was cordially met with by the governors or mayors of these cities. In Pasto， the last city the delegation visited， the mayor held a grand ceremony and conferred the title of honorary citizen upon us and presented the key of the city gate to the head of the delegation.

When our visit approached the end， the activities that had been carrying on for a long time and in connection with the establishment of diplomatic relations showed the result at last.Gomez specially arranged for the delegation to first have contacts with the Supreme Court， the judicial body， and then the Congress， the legislative body so as to let the people hear the voice of Colombia wanting to develop relations with China from these two organs of state power. The delegation first paid an official call on Deputy Chief Justice Jose Maria Velasco， then on Jorge Mario Estman， president of the House of Representatives. Both of them said to Hou Tong that Colombia attached great importance to its relations with China and was ready to further develop all-round friendly relationship with China so as to promote contacts between the two countries in the political， economic， social，cultural and other fields. They said that they believed that through the joint efforts， the traditional friendship between the two countries would be surely further enhanced.

May 14 saw the highlight of the visit. Colombian President Julio Cesar Turbay met with the delegation at the Presidential Palace. It was an unusual event that the state leader met with the delegation when the two countries had not yet established diplomatic relations. President Turbay shook hands with the members of the delegation at the gate of the hall， and then had a cordial chat with the delegation.He said that he was very glad to meet the Chinese friends from the East， and that he always admired China and drew precious nourishment from China’s ancient civilization—a huge wealth of humankind. He welcomed the Chinese friends by quoting ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius’ well-known saying “Welcoming friends from afar gives one great delight.”Then he shifted his talk to the main topic， saying that friendly people-to-people exchanges between Colombia and China made it possible to strengthen bilateral relations at other levels. Though Colombia and China were different in size and population， the two countries had the same goals and were at the same stage of development. So， he was optimistic that the two countries could reach common understanding and consensus in extensive fields.He stated， Colombia is a country with mono economy and rich in coffee. If every Chinese drinks one cup of tea less a day， and turns to coffee， then the export of Colombian coffee would fall short of demand， which would be a good thing for promoting the development of Colombia’s economy and the trade with China. Thus， he hoped to see that the trade relations between the two countries would achieve substantial results， which undoubtedly would play a decisive role in developing bilateral political relations. He hoped that diplomatic representatives of the two countries would reach a common understanding in this respect. If so， the diplomatic negotiation would produce results. At the end of the talk， President Turbay said that he could tell the Chinese friends definitely the establishment of diplomatic relations was not only possible， but also within the foreseeable future.

As soon as walking out of the Presidential Palace after the meeting， Gomez and Pery embraced Hou Tong tightly， saying once and again that this visit like “doing up golden buttons” successfully came to the end of a stage. They were excited at the President’s key words in the statement of his position， for they at last saw the dawn of the establishment of diplomatic relation between Colombia and China， and that their years of hard work would reap fruits.

Later I learned that Colombian government resumed contacts and talks on the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Chinese permanent mission to the United Nations and speeded up the negotiation. Eventually on February 7， 1980 the two countries signed the communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations.

When Gomez said that the delegation’s visit to Colombia “successfully came to the end of a stage”， I didn’t think much about its implication. On our departure at the airport， Gomez told me what it meant. He said that the establishment of diplomatic relations was only the first step， for the cause of friendship between Colombia and China was an endless relay race and he would continue to work for it. As expected， in 1989 he took up a new post—he was appointed as Colombian ambassador to China. During his term， he actively pushed economic and trade exchanges between the two countries， introduced Colombian coffee to China， helped arrange Colombian foreign minister’s visit to China， and did many other things. In the 1990s Gomez became a visiting professor with a Colombian famous university where he initiated the Chinese language teaching program and put the study of China as a most important course， opening an important channel for publicizing the Chinese culture. Since 1997， every year he has led or organized dozens of students to visit China during their vacation. In 1999 when the CCFA was preparing the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China， he generously paid half of its expense. In 2000 he was elected president of the CCFA， continuing to work for the promotion of Colombia-China friendship.

In recognition of his long dedication to Colombia-China friendship and outstanding contributions to promoting the Colombian people’s understanding of China and developing exchanges and cooperation in various fields between the two countries， in November 2001 the CPAFFC conferred upon Mr. Gomez the honorary title of Friendship Ambassador， the highest honour that the CPAFFC confers upon foreign friends in the nongovernmental diplomatic area.