An Icelander and The East Is Red

The winter breeze blew through Beijing at the start of November， while inside the tranquil compound of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries （CPAFFC）， Arnthor Helgasion smiled at the camera， a gleam of warmth shone on his face. “The East Is Red is my wedding song， and I hope it would be also played in my funeral，” he said.

Helgason， Chairman of the Icelandic Chinese Cultural Society （ICCS）， came to China to be interviewed for an eight-episode documentary on people-to-people diplomacy in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the CPAFFC.

A story of his first contact with China took us back to the fall of 1967. A 15-year-old Icelandic blind boy first heard Chinese songs on the radio. Eight years later， he visited China for the first time to find out more about the enchanting melody and its vocal of 96 words — The East Is Red. The host of that visit is the CPAFFC.

This simple invitation fulfilled a dream of that Icelander to make a 7879.27 km journey for such a simple purpose. No one ever expected that this 23-year-old young man would eventually lead ICCS to be the most active partner with China.

Since his first visit to China， ten ICCS delegations headed by him have left their footprints all over China. Meanwhile， ICCS has received many delegations from the CPAFFC， local friendship associations and cultural exchange groups. Among them， the visit of the Jinan National Orchestra in 1980 might be the most impressive， for Ms. Peng Liyuan was one of the delegates. No matter whether in front of the camera， or in the audience at the 60-year celebration of ICCS， Arnthor Helgason recalled it as follows：

“We could proudly say the wife of your president is an old friend of ours”.

He also took this pride in his long friendship with the CPAFFC， in his speech on the 60th anniversary of ICCS.

“Respected audience，

“On October 20， 1953， the Icelandic Chinese Cultural Society was founded with Jakob Benediktsson as its president. In the beginning， there were 77 members， but the number increased in the following years and in the 1970s there were more than 400.

“The main purpose of ICCS has been to introduce Chinese culture to Icelanders as well as help introducing Icelandic culture in China. The society has always been based on members’ voluntary work.

“The ICCS is now probably the oldest cultural organization with mutual contacts with the CPAFFC. A Peking Opera Troupe visited Iceland in 1955 with Chu Tunan， the first President of the CPAFFC， as delegation head.

“The second generation of ICCS is now step-by-step leaving the stage and the 3rd generation will soon take over. We hope to be able to keep nursing our cultural exchanges， strengthening our mutual friendship and understanding through bilateral cultural exchanges.”

Present for his speech were a lot of his friends who also devoted themselves to the friendship between Iceland and China. Former Ambassador Wang Ronghua helped translate his speech into Chinese， and wrote in his postscript：

“I was there when Arnthor delivered this speech， and I am very honored to attend the 60th anniversary of the founding of ICCS. It gives me great pleasure to meet my old friend， Arnthor Helgason， a recipient of the title of Friendship Ambassador conferred by the CPAFFC. I first saw him right after I became the ambassador to Iceland. It was a seminar organized by ICCS on the theme of the poems of Chairman Mao.

“Their passion for Mao and his poems deeply touched me， especially since there were three editions of Mao’s poetry in Iceland， a small country with 280，000 people. I was utterly inspired by the organizer. Since then， I participated in a lot of activities hosted by ICCS and got to know more about Arnthor. We became very good friends in my four-year term. Arnthor’s love for China and Chinese culture is sincere， and his view on China is objective and just.

“He had the melody The East Is Red played at his wedding ceremony， and he knew more about Chinese folk songs than many Chinese. Last year when he visited China， Mr. Chen Hao- su， former President of the CPAFFC attended the party for welcoming him and sang Chinese folk songs on the occasion. Arnthor played the piano， and whatever Mr. Chen chose to sing， Arnthor could easily accompany him.

“For all those years he devoted himself fully to the friendship with China， and the drive was just his great love of Chinese culture， and his sincere wish to introduce Chinese culture to Icelanders. It is absolutely my honor to translate his speech into Chinese， as a way to pay back all his friendship for so many years.”

Arnthor Helgason has made a lot of friends from the CPAFFC， as well as those from all walks of life who engage in the cause of friendship between Iceland and China. Many are inspired by his spirit upheld in his daily life and not just in speech. This time， Arnthor came to China for the documentary film made for the 60th birthday of the CPAFFC， and before he departed from Beijing， he once again raised that seemingly odd request： “I want to go to the Beijing Railway Station to listen to The East Is Red.”

On that day， this old friend stood on the square in front of the railway station， with people coming and going. He smiled and waited patiently for noon， and when he heard the bell begin to ring out the melody of The East Is Red， he smiled.

At that moment， I suddenly recalled what his wife once said： “China is Arnthor’s fiancé， and has been long before I met him.”