China-ASEAN Friendship Tour

The CPAFFC launched the China-ASEAN Friendship Tour, a large scale series of activities to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN and the Year of China-ASEAN Friendship and Cooperation. From October 27 to November 10, 2006, headed by Lu Xuezhi, deputy director general of the Department of Asian and African Affaires of the CPAFFC, a 23-member delegation in 5 cars left Beijing and passed the Friendship Pass in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to visit Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. From November 10 to 20, CPAFFC Vice President Jing Dunquan and his party accompanied by an art troupe joined the first group at Bangkok, Thailand, making a delegation of more than 60 people, and continued to visit Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. They were warmly welcomed by the governments and people of all the 6 countries and together with the local people took part in the celebration of the anniversary and activities of the Year of China-ASEAN Friendship and Cooperation.

It was the first large scale nongovernmental activity for friendship with the ASEAN countries in coordination with the celebrations held by the governments. Their motorcade traveled through the ASEAN member countries, covering 10,000 kilometres in 25 days. Along the route they carried out various cultural, economic and trade exchanges and made philanthropic donations. They came into close contact with a great number of the local people, and enhanced mutual understanding and the Sino-ASEAN people’s friendship.

In the year 2006, the 15th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN, both the authorities and nongovernmental organizations attached great importance to holding various forms of celebration. On October 30, when China-ASEAN Commemorative Summit was held, a border crossing ceremony of the tour was held in Nanning and the motorcade crossed the Friendship Pass to visit the 6 countries. It is a meaningful event and will have far reaching influence. While serving as foil to set off the Summit, the nongovernmental activities coordinated with the authorities in expressing Chinese people’s warm wishes to be a forever “good neighbour, good friend, good partner” of its neighbouring countries. At the same time, with the flexibility of the people-to-people diplomacy, it acted upon the spirit of the Summit and donated stationeries to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, the new members of the ASEAN, holding gala parties and cultural, commercial and trade exchanges with Thais, Malaysians and Singaporeans, people of the old ASEAN members. In every country they stepped onto, reporters of the delegation interviewed Chinese ambassadors, royal members, government and local officials, representatives of friendship organizations, overseas Chinese, representatives of China funded enterprises, teachers, students and common people, further spreading the message of friendship between China and ASEAN countries and deepening the concept of Sino-ASEAN friendly cooperation. The tour “promoted bilateral relations through multilateral activities” and thus realized the goals of promoting governmental relations through nongovernmental diplomacy. The CPAFFC hosted the Conference on China-ASEAN People-to-People Friendship Organizations in Beijing on May 17, 2006, which was attended by friendship organizations of the 10 ASEAN member countries. The conference issued the Declaration on China-ASEAN People-to-People Friendship and Cooperation. The friendship tour was implementation of the declaration. The friendship organizations of the six countries also regarded it as part of the concerted efforts following the conference and did their best in planning itineraries, arranging various activities according to their national conditions and their capability. Thongloun Sisoulith, deputy prime minister, minister of foreign affairs and minister of Commission for External Relations of the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, and Siaosavath Savengsuksa, vice minister of industry and commerce, met with the delegation and accepted the donations. Bosaykham Vongdara, minister of energy and mines and president of the Lao-Chinese Friendship Association, held a warm reception for the delegation at 10 p.m. upon their arrival in Laos, despite a 4 hour delay due to motor failure. In Cambodia, Princess Norodom Buppha Devi, president of the Cambodia-China Friendship Association, accepted the delegation’s donation and reporter’s interview. She then attended the entertainment held by the China Hong Kong and Macau Expatriate and Business Association. In Thailand, Korn Dabbaransi, president of the Thai-Chinese Friendship Association and former deputy prime minister, attended many activities together with the delegation, and General Bannavit Kengrien, deputy permanent secretary for defense and vice president of the Thai-Chinese Culture and Economy Association, met with the delegation. In Malaysia, Dato’ Abdul Majid, president of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association and former Malaysian ambassador to China, took part in many activities of the delegation, and Dato’ Liow Tiong Lai, vice minister of youth and sports, met with the delegation and conducted the Flag-Off Ceremony for them. As the delegation had strong mainstream media participation, the Thai and Malaysian state tourist bureaus set great store by the tour and took part in the work of receiving the delegation, and at the same time introduced their own tourism to the Chinese media, welcoming Chinese tourists.

The tour focused on people-to-people exchanges, through direct friendly contacts, get-togethers and performance on the same stages with the local people, publicizing Chinese policy of promoting a “good, secure and prosperous neighbourhood together with the surrounding countries” and building a harmonious Asia and a harmonious world. During their stay in Vietnam, the delegation had gala parties with comrades of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations in Halong Bay and Quang Ninh Province. They presented a donation of 10 boxes of stationeries，worth over 50,000 RMB yuan, to the Kim Lien Middle School in Kim Lien of Vinh City, hometown of Ho Chi Minh, and had a successful meeting with about 1,000 teachers and students there. In Laos, they exchanged best wishes with the local people according to the local custom of tying threads on each other. While visiting Thailand and Malaysia, artists of the delegation gave performances together with the local artists invited by the friendship organizations. When the tour passed by Phatthalung in southern Thailand, Mr. Sonsak, our Thai friend, asked his brother, mayor of the city, to give the delegation a unique reception in a middle school where the students welcomed the delegation by performing traditional Thai music and dances.