ＣＰＡＦＦＣ—Ａｎ Ｈｏｎｅｓｔ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ Ｐｅｏｐｌｅ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ Ｗｏｒｌｄ

Promoting friendship among countries is promoting honesty among peoples of the world. The CPAFFC not only promotes friendship and mutual understanding between peoples of China and other countries in the world， but also gives great experience to the people for thinking honestly， working honestly and implementing international relations honestly. The CPAFFC has rendered valuable service to promote genuine friendship all over the world during the past 50 years.

It is a great honour and pleasure for me to deliver a speech on behalf of all the friendship associations friendly to China in the world at the conference in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the CPAFFC at the Great Hall of the People on May 20， 2004. As one and only Sri Lankan who had been awarded the state-level Friendship Medal and certificate by the People’s Republic of China， I delivered the speech with great respect and gratitude.

I visited China in 1987 for the first time at the invitation of the CPAFFC as a member of Sri Lanka-China Society. In 1988 the Ministry of Radio， Film and Television of China invited me to visit China. In 1990 I got an invitation from the above ministry to work as a foreign expert in China Radio International (CRI). After having completed my assignment in CRI in 1997， I returned home and established the Association for Sri Lanka-China Social and Cultural Cooperation. I visited China several times at the invitation of the CPAFFC and traveled more than 20 provinces， autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government of China. I have rich experience in promoting friendship between Sri Lanka and China. The CPAFFC has given me a tremendous support and cooperation in this regard.

The CPAFFC is a non-governmental organization enjoying sound reputation worldwide and a trustworthy partner of the peoples and friendship associations in different countries. It has a contingent of honest friends all over the world， and established extensively mutual cooperative ties and fruitful exchanges with those associations.

Over the past 50 years the CPAFFC has preserved in keeping pace with the times， carrying out diversified activities with rich contents and making good friends everywhere in the world. These activities created a colourful and attractive picture of the mankind feeling and a strong bridge for enhancement of mutual understanding and friendship， which is invaluable.

The fruitful cooperation and exchanges conducted between the friendship associations and the CPAFFC have not only brought lots of benefits to both sides， but also accumulated experience and paved the way for further expanding exchanges. The responsibility to maintain and strengthen the cooperation and exchanges lies in our hands. The task of our association， a member of friendship associations with China， is to plunge itself to promoting and safeguarding friendship and relations with the CPAFFC. We highly appreciate and respect the way that the CPAFFC promote friendship all over the world.

In my point of view， I refer the CPAFFC as the most influential nongovernmental organization dealing with friendship work with other countries in China. It is an initiator of friendship promotion between China and the rest of the world. With the unremitting efforts the CPAFFC has obtained a highly reputed treatment from foreign friends. It has become one of the world’s most reputed organizations in name and reality. It has most efficiently introduced the new China as well as honesty of the Chinese people and their friendly feelings to the people across the world. The CPAFFC has given me a very good opportunity to develop friendship activities between Sri Lanka and many provinces of China， and to enjoy unprecedented friendship with the Chinese people in my life.

In implementing friendly cooperation and exchanges， I believe that it is very important to be frank， confident and sincere and to have heart- to-heart communication. The CPAFFC has all these qualities.

I don’t think it is necessary for me to tell all about China to foreign friends. But it is important to let foreign friends know about China and what the Chinese people are doing， hoping and expecting. The activities that the CPAFFC is carrying out help the people all over the world understand China and the Chinese people.

Wish the esteemed Association vigorous and tremendous growth and everlasting friendship between the peoples of Sri Lanka and China.