China South Asia Friendship Organizations＇ Forum Held

The establishment of a non-governmental cooperative mechanism between China and the nations of South Asia was one of the most important fruits of the first ever “China South AsiaFriendship Organizations’ Forum” held in Beijing October 28-30， 2009. This is part of new strategic thinking for developing deeper relations between the various friendship organizations on both sides to promote not just dialogue but various exchange and cooperation programs covering a wide range of sectors and activities， including establishment of friendship-city ties between Chinese and South Asian cities.

Sponsored by the CPAFFC under the theme of “new thinking and new strategy for the cooperation between China and South Asia”， the forum brought together 50 representatives from 18 friendship organizations of six South Asian countries and 30 representatives from the Chinese local governments’ foreign affairs offices or local people’s associations for friendship with foreign countries. During the three days they met， delegates were able to exchange experiences on past and existing friendship activities， have in-depth discussions about promotion of exchanges and cooperation between various localities in China and their counterparts in South Asia and working plans for friendly activities in the near future.

A key aspect will be the creation of a nongovernmental cooperation mechanism， the China South AsiaFriendship Organizations’ Forum， as an important platform for strengthening dialogue and cooperation at the grassroots， non-official level.

Among those attending the forum’s opening ceremony were Jiang Zhenghua， former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and now President of the China-India Friendship Association， Sun Fuling， former Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and President of the China-Nepal Friendship Association， He Kang， former Minister of Agriculture and President of the China-Bangladesh Friendship Association， Feng Zuoku， CPAFFC Vice President， along with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， the Ministry of Commerce， the Soong Ching Ling Foundation， the China NGO Network for International Exchanges and the China Association for International Friendly Contact， as well as Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Karunatilaka Amunu- gama and diplomatic envoys from other South Asian countries.

Feng Zuoku and Ambassador Amunugama delivered keynote speeches. The representative of the Foreign Ministry read out the message of congratulations sent by Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyao. Jiang Zhenghua， Sun Fuling， He Kang and Feng Zuoku presented friendship cups and certificates of award to participant organizations in recognition of their contributions to the cause of friendship between China and South Asian countries.

Friendship

Representatives from the various South Asian friendship organizations participating in the forum were personages long engaged in the promotion of international friendship holding a high regard and warm feelings for China. In their speeches at the welcome reception， they warmly reviewed the history of friendship， highly praised the traditional ties and expressed their firm support for and friendship with China. The forum was permeated with a warm and friendly atmosphere. The participants had deep discussions on various topics offering suggestions and showing much enthusiasm for the work of promoting friendship between their countries and China.

Exchanges

One of the aims of the forum was to give the Chinese and South Asian countries’ friendship organizations an opportunity to share their experience of their work and set up a platform for even more profound exchanges and interactions so as to help the friendship organizations of South Asian countries get to know one another and explore how to cooperate in future to carry out bilateral and multilateral exchanges.

At the forum， the participants briefed on the establishment and development of their own organizations and the successful projects their organizations had carried out in the past so that they could learn and derive inspiration from each other.

In the panel discussion on the theme of “good projects”， Indrananda Abeysekera， President of the Association for Sri Lanka-China Social and Cultural Cooperation (SLCSCC)， spoke about its idea of visiting China “with projects” in mind and holding activities in cooperation with the CPAFFC， and how his association during its visits in China had carried out the activity of “Love and Friendship” for helping Chinese disabled children and the project of funding students in the earthquake-hit areas in Sichuan to continue their education. Anoop Ranjan Bhattarai， President of the Nepal China Executives Council (NCEC)， briefed on projects carried out by his organization such as a trade exhibition， the publication of a Picture Album of Araniko’s Life， etc. The CPAFFC briefed about its successful activities such as the China-India University Students’ Forum， activities celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka， etc.

The forum especially set up several theme panels. At the panel with the theme of the role of friendship organizations in promoting exchanges between provinces and cities of China and South Asian countries， and the suggestion on establishing friendship-city ties between China and South Asian countries， Xia Guozhu， Deputy Secretary General of the China International Friendship Cities Association， gave a keynote speech enabling the various friendship organizations to have a more comprehensive knowledge about China’s international friendship cities program， the current situation of the development of friendship-city ties between China and South Asian countries and China’s policy on friendship cities. This， it was agreed， would help the friendship organizations to carry out more efficient and focused work in the field.

Cooperation

Through full exchanges， the participants put forward many practicable projects for cooperation covering the areas of economy， trade， science and technology， publications， education， poverty alleviation， tourism， media， etc. Among them the project of a “Bringing Light Tour” put forward by the CPAFFC with the aim of providing operations for cataract patients was strongly supported by the Bangladesh-China Friendship Association (BCFA). The BCFA expressed its willingness to cooperate with the CPAFFC to carry out the project in October， 2010 as a special activity to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Bangladesh. The NCEC decided to hold a China Fair in Kathmandu in 2010. The Sri Lanka China Society and the Nepal-China Society suggested they publish books， albums and brochures and run Chinese language classes to publicize Chinese culture and promote learning of the Chinese language.

At the closing ceremony， the participants signed 12 memoranda of friendly cooperation among them in a bid to strengthen bilateral exchanges. The NCEC and the SLCSCC agreed on a cooperation project for the latter to participate in the 2010 China Fair in Kathmandu as well as holding a photo exhibition on Araniko in Colombo.

It was decided that the forum would be held once every two years in China and South Asian countries in rotation. The participants agreed unanimously that the second meeting would be held in Nepal in 2011.

Note: Araniko (real name Balabahu) was a 13th Century Nepalese architect born in Kathmandu， who went to China at the age of 12 upon invitation of the emperor Kublai Khan to make stupas for Buddhist temples. His most renowned architecture can still be seen today—the White Stupa of Miaoying Temple in Beijing. Araniko stayed in China until his death.