CPAFFC Delegation Visits Bulgaria,Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro

At the invitation of the Federation for Bulgarian-Chinese Friendship (FBCF), the Macedonia-China Friendship Association (MCFA) and the Association for Friendship with the People’s Republic of China from Serbia and Montenegro, a CPAFFC delegation led by its Vice President Su Guang paid a goodwill visit to Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro from November 23 to December 8, 2003.

Bulgarian Vice President Anjil Marin, Deputy Cultural Minister Bisera Yosifova and FBCF President and Academician of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences N. Popof met with the delegation respectively. The delegation also met with leading officials of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia University and the State Museum of History, and had talks with businessmen and personages actively engaged in promoting friendship between Bulgaria and China.

In his meeting with the CPAFFC delegation Vice President Marin said, China has rapidly developed its economy and made tremendous achievements in its large-scale economic construction. The successful bid of the 2008 Olympic Games and the launching of the manned spaceship manifest its economic achievements. He reiterated that Bulgaria will stick to the “one China” policy, and Taiwan is an integral part of China’s territory. He spoke highly of China’s important role on the international arena and its four-time free economic aid to Bulgaria, showing China’s understanding of Bulgaria and Bulgaria-China friendship. The Bulgarian people are following China’s development with great interest and have a strong desire to further strengthen dialogue and cooperation with China. The two countries have a tradition and impetus for friendly cooperation. Recently “a quiz about China” was held in Bulgaria, and many newspapers and magazines took part in the activity. To my surprise, many young Bulgarian knew about China more than they knew about their own country. In recent years, the two countries have exchanged visits frequently, laying a good foundation for a long-term stable bilateral cooperation. After hearing CPAFFC Vice President Su Guang’s briefing about the CPAFFC’s work, Marin said, there is no doubt that exchange of official visits among countries is very important, but people-to-people contacts have also played an important role. When the political relations among countries are at a delicate stage, nongovernmental diplomacy can help break the deadlock. Twinning friendship cities among countries will not only promote economic and trade relations among localities, but also add a useful supplement to the cooperation among governments.

On November 29, the delegation went to Macedonia. On the day of their arrival, Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva cordially met with the delegation, and Vice Foreign Minister Fuad Hasanovic and President of the MCFA Jordan Pop Jordanov jointly held a reception in honour of the delegation. Former Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov also met with the delegation. Su Guang and his party met with scholars of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences, mayor of Skopie City and businessmen of the Macedonian Chamber of Commerce, took part in the activity celebrating the founding of Kicevo Branch of the MCFA, attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition A Close Look at China and had a working meeting with the MCFA.

In her meeting with the delegation Foreign Minister Mitreva said, China is a great friend of Macedonia. Macedonia got strong support from China during the early period of its independence. She reiterated, Macedonia recognizes only one China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. It is gratifying that remarkable achievements have been made in the relations between the two countries in various fields. Levels of official contacts between the two countries have been continuously uplifting, and economic and trade cooperation has made a new progress. The Kozjak Hydropower Station constructed by the Chinese side is the best proof of China’s help in the economic development of Macedonia. Cultural and educational exchanges are also increasing. Foreign Minister Mitreva praised the important role as a bridge that the friendship organizations of the two countries had played in promoting the development of bilateral relations.

In his meeting the delegation, Former Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov who had just returned from his visit to China said that it was his fourth visit to China. Every time he visited China, he found that China had developed by leaps and bounds. China has combined theory well with practice. He was deeply impressed by China’s economic development and progress of science and technology, and learned a lot of useful things from China.

In Serbia and Montenegro, mayor of Belgrade met with the delegation. She said that the CPAFFC had done a great deal of work in helping establish ties and carry out cooperation between cities of China and other countries, and expressed her willingness to promote friendly cooperative relations between Belgrade and Beijing. Following her suggestion and arrangement, the delegation had a meeting with the Standing Conference of Town and Municipalities of Serbia and Montenegro (SCTMSM) and the two sides decided to establish formal relations. Su Guang gave them a detailed briefing about the CPAFFC’s work of conducting friendly people-to-people exchanges and cooperation and promoting friendship-city ties between China and other countries. The delegation also met with the director general of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro and had a working session with Nikola Radosevic, president of the Association for Friendship with the People’s Republic of China from Serbia and Montenegro.

During its visit to the three countries, the delegation was invited to visit other places besides the capitals, made extensive contacts and had friendly talks with local government officials and businessmen. During the visit we felt deeply that the people of the three countries had great admiration for China’s achievements since the reform and opening up and miraculous economic development. We experienced the friendly personages’ warmth towards China, their happiness about China’s economic development, growth of national strength and improvement of people’s livelihood, their yearning for today’s China and expectation of future China.