Ｕ．Ｓ． Ｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ Ｃｏｎｆｅｒｅｎｃｅ ｏｆ Ｓｔａｔｅ Ｌｅｇｉｓｌａｔｕｒｅｓ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， a 22-member delegation of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)， headed by NCSL President John Hurson， visited Beijing， Shanghai， Chongqing and Chengdu from June 28 to July 9.Cheng Siwei， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC)， Xu Kuangdi， vice president of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference， met with the delegation respectively. CPAFFC President Chen Haosu also met the delegation and hosted a welcoming banquet.

Exchanging Views with Chinese National Leaders

It has been 9 years since the CPAFFC invited the last delegation of the NCSL to visit China. The delegation’s leader John Hurson is NCSL president and the majority leader in the House of Representatives of Maryland， and the delegation members include 8 state senators and representatives. During the two meetings， Vice Chairman Cheng Siwei and Vice Chairman Xu Kuangdi briefed the delegation on a series of principles and positions adopted by the Chinese Government and had extensive， in-depth and candid exchange of ideas with the American friends on a variety of issues， including China-US relations， China-US trade， RMB exchange rate， Taiwan issue and China’s legislature system.

When answering the question “what China wants from Taiwan”， Vice Chairman Cheng says， Taiwan has been Chinese territory since the ancient times. The present situation is an issue left over from China’s civil war and is China’s internal affairs. The Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits long for peace and reunification. The brotherhood between us cannot be explained by economic benefits. We hope the US side could come to understand the seriousness of this issue， adhere to the one-China principle and the 3 China-US joint communiqués， and refrain from selling advanced weaponry to Taiwan or doing anything that could undermine China’s peaceful reunification.

Talking about how China can balance economic development and environmental protection， Chairman Xu Kuangdi said that it is true that China faces energy shortage， and China’s economic development in the past was mainly focused on quantity instead of quality and the environment was adversely affected. Our solutions， right now are to rely on the development of science and technology， conserve energy and protect the environment and establish a resource-economical and environment-friendly society.

The congressmen and state legislators said after the meetings that the two Chinese leaders left very deep impressions on them. They have very extensive knowledge of political and economic issues， and of China-US relations. Listeners could clearly feel their concern for the ordinary people of their country.

An Eye-opening Visit

It is the first time for many members of this delegation to visit China. Their knowledge about China was mainly acquired from the news report and some films and TV series. During the visit， they were very surprised at the facts， and their views have changed a great deal.

In Beijing， the delegation visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall， both of which are on the UN World Cultural Heritage List. They made the Hutong (alley) Tour， visited an ordinary household and tasted the Peking Duck， through which they learned about China’s traditional culture as well as the present conditions. Many of them expressed their admiration for China’s splendid culture， ancient but not obsolete， mysterious but not boring. The Chinese government’s policy for preserving buildings with historical values won their acclaim.

The NCSL 2005 Annual Conference will be held in Seattle， Washington State in the coming August. The CPAFFC will dispatch local legislators from Sichuan (Washington’s sister state) and Chongqing (Seattle’s sister city) to attend the annual conference. When visiting the Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing， the delegation members were deeply impressed by the great changes that have taken place and the Chinese people’s great courage and determination to launch such a huge project. During their visit to Sichuan and Chongqing， the delegation strongly felt the pulse of China’s western region. When they saw construction sites everywhere， especially construction of roads going on everywhere， they said that it had been difficult for them to understand why China still called itself a developing country; but by coming to China’s western region and have a close look， answer to this question became self-evident.

In Shanghai， the delegation visited the EDS Company and E-Bay China. The two American companies gave the delegation detailed briefings on China’s good investment environment and broad market prospects. In EDS Company， a delegation member asked whether it was safe to invest in China. The vice president of the company， who is an American， replied by saying that although China and the U.S. differ greatly in ideology and government structure， the development path that the Communist Party of China has chosen is most suitable to China’s national conditions， and that business people have confidence in the Chinese government.