ＣＬＡＦＡ Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ Ｃｈｅｎｇ Ｓｉｗｅｉ ａｎｄ Ｈｉｓ Ｐａｒｔｙ Ｖｉｓｉｔ Ｔｈｒｅｅ Ｌａｔｉｎ Ａｍｅｒｉｃａｎ Ｃｏｕｎｔｒｉｅｓ

At the invitation of the Argentine， Peruvian and Bahamianfriendship-with-China organizations and the Organization of American States (OAS)， a delegation of the China-Latin America Friendship Association (CLAFA) led by its president Cheng Siwei， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， paid a visit to the three countries from November 22 to December 9， 2005 and attended the ThirdLatin America and Caribbean Regional Conference of Friendship Organizations with China held in Buenos Aires. He gave a speech at the headquarters of the OAS in Washington D. C.

During the delegation’s visit in the three countries， Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo， President of the National Congress of Peru Marcial Ayaipoma Alvarado; Argentine Vice President Daniel Scioli， Vice President of the Senate of Argentina Lopez Arias; and Bahamas Acting Governor-General Paul Adderley respectively met with the delegation. President of the Senate of the Bahamas Sharon Wilson saw the delegation off at the airport. The Congress of Peru organized a guard of honour to welcome the delegation when it came to visit the Congress.Mme. Felisa Miceli， president of the National Bank of Argentina*， Frederich A. Mitchell， foreign minister of the Bahamas， wife of Peruvian president and Oscar Maurtua de Romana， Peruvian foreign minister，met with the delegation on different occasions. In meeting with the delegation， Peruvian President Toledo said， China is a big Asian country with a large population of high moral quality. Peru admires the achievements China has made in recent years. He happily recalled his meeting with President Hu Jintao and appreciated China’s support for Peru to become a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council.

Argentine Vice President Daniel Scioli said， Argentina and China are now at a period of good cooperation both in governmental and nongovernmental areas. China’s rapid economic growth provides a good opportunity for Argentina’s economic development. The successful exchanges of visits between the leaders of the two countries have helped strengthen the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in the political， economic， trade， cultural and tourist fields. The two countries are economically complementary.The Argentine Government hopes to learn experience of development from China， and appreciates China’s support for Argentina in its economic revitalization.

The OAS was founded in 1890; its predecessor was the Pan-American Union. It now has 35 member states and about 60 permanent observers. In May 2004 the OAS accepted China as its permanent observer. On the afternoon of December 6， 2005 Vice Chairman Cheng Siwei was invited to give a speech entitled “Bright Prospects of China-Latin America Cooperation” at the headquarters of the OAS. This was the speech so far given at the OAS by a Chinese leader of the highest rank. More than 200 people including OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza，representatives of the 35 member states and a number of observers attended the meeting. In his speech Vice Chairman Cheng expressed his views on the present situation and future prospects of exchanges between China and Latin America in the political， economic， cultural and nongovernmental fields.

At the invitation of the Peru Pacific University and the World Affairs Council of Northern California， Vice Chairman Cheng gave speeches and answered questions on Sino-US trade frictions， RMB exchange rate， China’s domestic investment environment， and other issues.

The China-Latin America Friendship Medal， an honorary award set up by the China-Latin America Friendship Association， is given to the foreign friends who have devoted themselves to friendship with China and made outstanding contribution to the promotion of friendship between the people of Latin American countries and China. During the delegation’s visit in Peru， Vice Chairman Cheng Siwei presented Medal and certificate to Eduardo Yong Motta and Teresa Ho，president and secretary general of the Peru-China Cultural and Friendship Association， in recognition of their long-time hard work for promoting the friendship between the Peruvian and Chinese people.

Attending Third Latin America and Caribbean

Regional Conference of Friendship Organizations with China

The Regional Friendship Conference jointly initiated by Howard Cooke， governor general of Jamaica and patron of the Jamaica-China Friendship Association， and Li Xiaolin， vice president of the CPAFFC， is aimed at promoting contacts and exchanges between China and Latin American and Caribbean friendship-with-China organizations， strengthening exchanges of working experience of the various friendship organizations and enhancing understanding and contacts between different cultures. In 1998 and 2003， two Regional Friendship Conferences were respectively held in Jamaica and Colombia.

The third conference was jointly organized by the Argentina-China Friendship Association (Rosario City)， the Argentina-China Cultural Association (Cordoba City) and the CPAFFC. Former Argentine President Raul Alfonsin，Vice President of the Senate Lopez Arias and more than 70 representatives of about 20 friendship- with-China organizations from 19 countries attended the conference. The Federation of Argentine Municipalities (FAM) and the Argentina-China Chamber of Commerce also sent representatives to the conference. What should be specially mentioned here is that friendship organizations of the five countries that have not yet established diplomatic relations with China also sent representatives to attend the conference. In his speech at the conference， Vice Chairman Cheng Siwei said， people-to-people friendly relations between China and Latin America and the Caribbean region are gaining momentum of development. But， the friendship organizations are facing shortage of funds and the problem of members becoming old. It is urgently needed to make use of this platform to carry out friendly exchanges as well as explore the ways to solve the problems. He hoped that the representatives would put forward new ideas， and learn from each other so as to jointly create a new prospect for the cause of China-Latin America friendship. The representatives had exchange of views and discussions on supporting the Anti-Secession Law adopted at the Third Session of the Tenth National People’s Congress， promoting exchanges in the fields of business， academics， culture， sports etc.， strengthening the work of friendship cities and provinces and carrying out youth and women work. At the conference， the motion on the establishment of the Latin America and Caribbean-China Friendship Association (LACCFA) was unanimously passed， and Guillermo A. Penfold，president of the Argentina-China Friendship Association of Cordoba City， was elected president of the LACCFA. All the representatives unanimously agreed that the next conference would be held in China in 2007.

* Mme. Felisa Miceli was appointed minister of economy when the delegation was leaving Argentina