22 April 2004 12:38
China`s parliament chief to visit Russia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway
April
Beijing, 21 April: China is assigning increasing attention to parliamentary diplomacy. Since visiting South Korea and
Japan last year, Chairman Wu Bangguo of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress [NPC] will be
visiting Russia, Bulgaria, Denmark and Norway this spring. Chairman Wu Bangguo decided to make neighbouring South Korea
and Japan the destinations of his first overseas trip after setting up the new NPC Standing Committee last year. The
trip was later postponed to the second half of the year because of the outbreak of atypical pneumonia. Wu Bangguo also
visited North Korea after that trip.
The record of overseas visits by members of the NPC Standing committee shows that parliamentary diplomacy is assuming
a new and active posture. Several NPC vice-chairmen have led delegations to visit foreign countries in the recent past.
For example, He Luli visited Vietnam and Laos, Xu Jialu attended the 110th conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
in Mexico, Han Qide visited Kenya, Iran and Nigeria, Li Tieying visited Libya, Cameroon, Mauritius and Tunisia, Ismail
Amat visited Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen and Jordan, Wang Zhaoguo visited the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, and Cheng
Siwei visited Columbia, Brazil and Uruguay.
The NPC Standing Committee also received in Beijing the acting speaker of the US Senate, the president of the Spanish
parliament, a judicial delegation from Saudi Arabia, a delegation from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Romanian
Senate, a delegation from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, a delegation from the Philippine Liberal Party, a
parliamentary delegation from Poland, a parliamentary delegation from Latvia, a delegation from the Group of the
People's Party in the European Parliament, a parliamentary delegation from Holland, a delegation from members of
the Socialist Democratic Party in the Federal Assembly of Germany, a parliamentary delegation from the Victoria State of
Australia, the senate speaker of Columbia, a parliamentary delegation from Uruguay, a delegation from the Judiciary
Committee of the US Congress, the Senate speaker of Belgium, a Senate delegation from Thailand, the speaker of the
Romanian parliament, and others. China's parliamentary diplomacy has become a new landscape of China's foreign
relations.
People here believe that the most direct result of China's parliamentary diplomacy is that it helps the outside
world better understand the Chinese system of democracy. It also helps achieve the understanding of foreign parliaments
on the Taiwan issue and finds more voices to help expound China's views on human rights, Tibet and other
issues.
It is understood that Wu Bangguo will also pay courtesy visits to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Bulgarian
president, the Queen of Denmark and the King of Norway during his upcoming visits apart from communicating with
corresponding organs of the parliaments of these countries.
[Ta Kung Pao web site] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
