Ｄｒ． Ｇｅｒｄ Ｋａｍｉｎｓｋｉ Ｒｅｃｅｉｖｅｓ Ｔｉｔｌｅ ｏｆ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ａｍｂａｓｓａｄｏｒ

The Austrian Association for Promotion of Friendship and Cultural Relations with China (AAPFCRC) was founded in 1971 at the initiation of Dr. Gerd Kaminski. The Association receives support from the Federal Council， the National Council， the Federal Government and all major political parties of Austria， and is one of the earliest organizations to establish cooperative relations with the CPAFFC. Over the past more than three decades， Dr. Kaminski， together with other Austrian friends， has made unremitting efforts to promote mutual understanding， friendship and cooperation between Austria and China.

The outstanding contributions the AAPFCRC has made under his leadership in the past more than 30 years include:

——promoting high-level exchanges and cooperation between the Federal Council and the National Council of Austria and the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference;

——promoting cooperation and exchanges between the governments of Austria and China;

——enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples;

——strengthening cooperation and exchanges between local governments of the two countries;

——promoting the twinning of friendship-city/province， state relations between the localities of the two countries;

——promoting exchanges and cooperation between the political parties of the two countries;

——enhancing cultural and art exchanges and cooperation between the two countries;

——promoting exchanges and cooperation between the business circles， especially between the small and medium-sized enterprises of the two countries.

Dr. Kaminski attends to the day-to-day work of the AAPFCRC. He has for years devoted all his energies to the cause of friendship with China and done a great deal of valuable work to strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between the two countries by organizing varied and colourful activities such as sending political， economic， cultural， academic and other groups to visit China， sponsoring seminars， mounting exhibitions， holding lectures and training courses， and publishing books.

It was through his efforts that personages like Dr. Jacob Rosenfeld， a great Austrian internationalist fighter who had taken part in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation， Mrs. Gertrude Du-Wagner， an Austrian lady who married into a Chinese family and lived in the countryside of Zhejiang Province for 60 years for the sake of love (Her touching story has been broadcast by the China Central Television and later adapted into a film Finny’s Smile)， Friedrich Schiff， an Austrian painter who recorded the real life of the Chinese people before liberation with his painting brush， and others who exemplify Austria-China friendship， have been publicized， which has brought the two peoples closer and boosted bilateral relations. Dr. Kaminski never stops writing. Apart from attending to the great deal of routine work， he persists in writing at night and publishes two books a year on average. His representative work On the Austrian and the Chinese has become documents for those studying Austria-China relations. It was through his efforts that the Rosthorn Medal has been set up by the AAPFCRC to commend those who have made important contributions to the enhancement of Austria-China Friendship. Former Austrian President Rudolf Kirchschlaeger and several other important Austrian figures as well as Chinese personages including former Vice Premier Wu Xueqian， former CPAFFC President Wang Bingnan and CPAFFC President Chen Haosu have been awarded the medal. In recognition of Dr. Kaminski’s contributions， the Austrian government awarded him PAN-Preis in 2003.

The AAPFCRC is one of the earliest friendship-with-China people’s organizations founded in western countries. It has worked hard and overcome one difficulty after another in the past 30-odd years， organizing and uniting friendly personages to persist in friendship with China and the Chinese people in good or bad times.

In view of the above-mentioned facts， the CPAFFC has conferred the title of Friendship Ambassador upon Dr. Gerd Kaminski， a founder and leader of the AAPFCRC and an old friend of the Chinese people.