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Strengthening People-to-people Exchanges and Practical Cooperation for Win-Win Situation


——Sidelights on CAFIU Vice-President Qi Xuchun’s Visit to New Zealand and Australia Wang Lin At the invitation of Asia New Zealand Foundation and Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA), a CAFIU delegation headed by Mr. Qi Xuchun, Vice-Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, Executive Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee of Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang and Vice-President of CAFIU visited New Zealand and Australia from Sept. 6 to 13. CAFIU Vice-President Ai Ping and Secretary-General Ni Jian were in the delegation. During the visit to the two countries, Mr. Qi Xuchun had extensive discussions with Parliaments, local governments, think tanks, organizations and people dedicated to promoting people-to-people bond to get deepened insights into the latest development in the two countries’ political, economic, social, educational and cultural areas. Mr. Qi exchanged ideas with the New Zealand and Australian sides on bilateral ties, the “Belt and Road” Initiative, China’s Thirteenth Five-year Plan and people-to-people exchanges, further promoting the understanding and cooperation between CAFIU and relevant organizations in the two countries, and helping lay a solid foundation for friendship between China and the two countries. I was fortunate to have learned a lot from the visit as a member of the delegation. New Zealand: Ushering in A New Era of People-to-people Bond The first leg of this trip was New Zealand, located in the southwest of the Pacific and made up of two large islands (the North Island and the South Island). Speaking of New Zealand, the first thing coming to my mind would be the dense forest, strips of rolling hills and grassland stretching to the horizon in the movies The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. These movies have attracted more and more Chinese tourists to this country in recent years. It is reported that last year 400,000 Chinese tourists went to New Zealand, a 40% increase over the previous year. China now is New Zealand’s second largest source of overseas tourists, second only to Australia. 400,000 is by no means a small number, given the fact that New Zealand has a total population of just 4.7 million. However, 400,000 just made up a tiny proportion of the 110 million Chinese making outbound trips last year. When meeting with Mr. Qi Xuchun, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mr. Carter and Mayor Dalziel said they welcome more Chinese tourists to New Zealand with a goal of hosting 1 million Chinese tourists annually in the coming 3 years. This is a challenging task for New Zealand, because it would require enhanced capacity and improved infrastructure such as hotels and restaurants. Therefore, the New Zealand side would like to cooperate with Chinese enterprises in jointly building relevant facilities. In Wellington, Mr. Qi Xuchun paid a visit to Victoria University, where he delivered a speech entitled “Strengthening Exchanges and Cooperation for the Promising Future of China-New Zealand Relations”. Established in 1899, it is one of the most historical universities in New Zealand. Currently, Chinese students are the largest international student group in this university, amounting to 800. The university has established a China Study Center and a Confucius Institute, which, in addition to teaching, also engage in public diplomacy efforts by promoting New Zealand in Asian countries. Over 100 teachers and students from School of International Relations attended the event and posed questions in a lively atmosphere. In addition to Wellington, the delegation also visited Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island. The city is the hometown of Louis Eli, a well-known old friend of China. As a renowned educator and writer in his home country, he came to China in 1927 and went to many places in China, making great contribution to China’s economic development, education and technical training. He died in Beijing in December 1987 at the age of 90. The delegation met in Christchurch with Mr. Bill Willmott, former President of New Zealand-China Friendship Association. His father came to China to fight against Japanese aggression as a member of the famous “Flying Tigers”. In 1932, Bill Willmott was born in Chengdu, China and left China after graduating from high school. He told us when he was young, he met Louis Eli many times in China and said he was deeply impressed by Mr. Eli’s relentless efforts in reducing Chinese people’s suffering against the backdrop of the wartime danger and difficulty. He said Mr. Eli was the pride of his country. Mr. Willmott also told us that New Zealand-China Friendship Association was established in 1952 following Mr. Eli’s suggestion and efforts. Back then, New Zealand and China had yet to establish diplomatic ties. At the beginning of its founding, the association sought to provide more opportunities for the people of New Zealand to get a better understanding of the new China and help lay the foundation for their government to officially acknowledge the PRC, a goal achieved ultimately in 1972. Successive presidents of New Zealand-China Friendship Association have all been dedicated to promoting people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, inspired by the exemplary compassion and internationalism of Louis Eli. As an envoy of friendship, Mr. Louis Eli played a subtle role in promoting the people-to-people bond between the two nations. The delegation met so many people during this trip who have connection to China. Speaker Carter told us that his daughter would return to New Zealand at the end of this year after working 2 years at a university in Xiamen. Speaker Carter had also been to China many times and would lead a joint Parliament and trade delegation to China in October, which would mark the first exchange between New Zealand Parliament and its Chinese counterpart in 10 years as well as the first joint delegation of the Parliament and the trade community. He was confident that this upcoming trip would not only boost parliamentary exchanges, but also deepen the economic cooperation and trade between the two countries. When meeting the delegation, Executive Director Mr. Draper of Asia New Zealand Foundation showed several photos to Mr. Qi Xuchun and Ambassador Wang Lutong and told the delegation that as a 19-year old young man, he traveled alone to Guangxi and Guangdong back in the 1980s when he was just a freshman in college. He recalled that everything was booming and people were full of vitality in China at the beginning of the reform and opening-up. He was also quite impressed by the beautiful landscape in Guilin and other places of the southern part of China. Such experience made a difference in Mr. Draper’s life and work later. Currently, promoting Chinese culture and facilitating China-New Zealand exchanges are an important part of his work. We are looking forward to more exchanges between CAFIU and Asia New Zealand Foundation. We also hope that one day Mr. Draper can make the journey back to China like he did when he was 19 to see firsthand what changes China has experienced. Australia: Realizing Win-win Situation Through Practical Cooperation After the visit to New Zealand, the delegation flew to Brisbane, Australia from Christchurch. Shortly after the ending of the G20 Hangzhou Summit in 2016, we arrived at the place where the G20 2014 was hosted and felt very fortunate to live at the hotel where President Xi Jinping resided when he was attending that summit. Brisbane is the capital of Queensland state and the third largest city of Australia. It is located in the northeast of Australia with lower latitude than New Zealand. It was in the early summer in Brisbane, compared to the early spring in Christchurch. Built on the bank of the Brisbane River, our hotel enjoys nice surroundings. Many people were jogging along the river. Sometimes several big birds with long beaks were digging through the grass for worms without any fear for passers-by. What a picture of harmonious co-existence between man and nature! In Brisbane, Deputy Premier of Queensland Madam Trad gave up her weekend to meet the delegation at our hotel, introducing her state’s cultural, educational and business ties with many Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengdu. She told us that Queensland is dedicated to developing and deepening exchanges with Chinese local governments, and the two countries enjoy a sound momentum in the development of tourism and educational exchanges. At the end of this year, she will visit China together with Board Director of Trade & Investment Queensland, Australia and attend the inaugural ceremony of Queensland Office in Chengdu with the hope of deepening its exchanges with the western part of China. Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Joanne Wright of University of Queensland and Professor Chen Ping, Dean of Confucius Institute of University of Queensland briefed the delegation on basic information of University of Queensland and the Confucius Institute. It is one of the largest universities in Australia with a total enrollment of 50,000, one tenth of whom are from China. It ranks among 50 to 80 globally with an outstanding performance in teaching and scientific research. It carries out cooperation in various forms with China’s universities, scientific research institutions and large companies on scientific research, materials science and chemistry. Chancellor and deans of this university attach great importance to strengthening exchanges with China. This year, University of Queensland signed a deal for second-phase cooperation worth of RMB 15 million with Baosteel Group. In 2009, it signed an agreement with Tianjin University to jointly build Confucius Institute, which was unveiled in 2010. It also has cooperation with Tianjin University to jointly conduct R&D on new materials. After the discussion, the delegation visited Confucius Institute, Art Museum and walked around the beautiful campus. Although it was a weekend, a lot of students were still studying in the classrooms or doing exercise on the playground. We recognized many Asian faces among them and were amazed at the international atmosphere on the campus. Recent years have seen a growing number of Chinese students studying in Australia. Many Chinese parents are even sending their teenage children to senior high schools and junior high schools here. In my opinion, after the Free Trade Agreement between China and Australia comes into effect and following the adjustment in Australian visa policy, more and more students will come and study in Australia, drawing closer the ties between the two nations. Back then, the first plenary session after the Australian parliamentary election was held. Newly elected MPs made their first speeches in the Parliament. Political parties were debating on domestic and international issues. We also read a lot of media reports on issues concerning China. The reports reflected the power game among different parties as well as the new administration’s fresh thinking on how to develop bilateral ties under the new circumstances. Against the backdrop of sluggish world economy and slow-down in economic recovery, Australia places more value on its cooperation with China, in the hope of hitchhiking the express of China’s development to realize stable economic growth. Australia places high expectations on practical cooperation with China in innovative and high technology, infrastructure, tourism and education. The willingness was expressed by the Speaker of the Senate Hon. Stephen Perry, Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon. Tony Smith, Deputy Premier Madam Trad, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of University of Queensland, as well as scholars, experts and overseas Chinese representatives of Australian Institute of International Affairs during the meetings and discussions with us. They recognized that thanks to the reform and opening-up in the past three decades, China has enjoyed fast economic growth and dramatic improvement in people’s life. In the coming 15 years, 70% of Chinese will join middle-income group. The huge consumption demand thus generated will present huge business opportunities for Australia’s economic development. Australia should grasp this opportunity to further deepen its practical cooperation with China to achieve win-win result. Currently, the bilateral ties lean heavily towards economic cooperation, but the future is not wholly dependent on economy. China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership should include social, cultural, people-to-people bond and even security cooperation. Win-win situation in the real sense can only be achieved by expanding exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in an all-round way. (Translated by Wang Bo)