Ｌａｔｖｉａｎ Ｍｅｍｂｅｒ ｏｆ Ｅｕｒｏｐｅａｎ Ｐａｒｌｉａｍｅｎｔ Ｐｉｋｓ ａｎｄ Ｈｉｓ Ｐａｒｔｙ ｉｎ Ｃｈｉｎａ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， Latvian member of the European Parliament Rihards Piks and three others paid a visit to Beijing， Lhasa and Shanghai from July 19 to 26，2005.

Piks， a senior Latvian statesman， has served as cultural minister， foreign minister and deputy speaker of the Latvian Parliament. Last year after Latvia joined the EU， he was elected member of the European Parliament. The aim of Piks and his party’s visit to China was to obtain knowledge about the social， economic， cultural and religious development of Tibet and China’s policy toward Tibet， and explore cultural cooperation between Latvia and China.

Important Meetings

CPAFFC President Chen Haosu had a cordial meeting with Piks and his party. He pointed out， the CPAFFC attaches great importance to the development of friendly and cooperative relations with the EU and the process of integration of Europe. He hoped that the enlarged EU would further develop its relations with China and that the friendship and cooperation between the people of China and Latvia would be further consolidated.

Xing Shizhong， vice chairman of the Education， Science， Culture， and Public Health Committee of the NPC and chairman of the China-Latvia Friendship Group of the NPC， briefed the guests about the Regional Autonomy of Minority Law， stressing that Tibet， as one of China’s five national autonomous regions at provincial level， enjoys full autonomy on their political， economic and social development， and freedom of religious belief. He hoped that Mr. Piks would observe Tibet from the eye of a statesman and an artist and introduce a colourful true Tibet to other members of the European Parliament.

In his meeting with the delegation， Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yeshui expressed his satisfaction with the smooth development of China-Latvia relations and spoke highly of Latvian Government’s persistence in the one China policy on the Taiwan question. Piks pointed out， it is very important for Latvia to develop cooperation with China in the political， cultural， economic， trade and other fields. The vice foreign minister also briefed the guests on the Chinese Government’s position on the questions of Tibet and Taiwan.

Knowing About Tibet

In Beijing， Bi Hua， deputy director general of the China National Centre of Tibetan Studies， and other experts on Tibet， briefed the guests on the current situation of China’s Tibetan Studies， and answered questions raised by the guests on the preservation of Tibetan culture during China’s modernization process， Tibet’s economic structure and development and the distinction between Tibetan Buddhism and other sects of Buddhism.

In Lhasa， the delegation visited the Potala Palace， the Jokhang Temple， the Drepung Monastery， the Tibet Museum， the Lhasa Brewery and Tibetan homes. In her briefing on the development of the Tibet Autonomous Region， Cui Yuying， vice chairperson of the Tibet Autonomous Region， pointed out in emphasis， with the support of the Central Government and the whole country， in recent years， the construction of infrastructure including energy industry and transportation， as well as tourism， minerals， Tibetan medicine and handicraft， building and Tibetan food industries have experienced a rapid development. At the same time， Tibetan cultural tradition has been well carried on and developed. The state has allocated large sums of funds for repairing the world cultural heritages including the Potala Palace， the Jokhang Temple and the Norbu Lingka and various kinds of cultural relics and temples， fully meeting the religious needs of the Tibetan people.

Piks said with deep feelings that it was really “Seeing for oneself is better than hearing from others”. He has visited China many times. This time he had a chance to visit the beautiful and mysterious Tibet， greatly broadening his vision. The rich itinerary enabled him to know about Tibet from various levels， witnessing that Tibet’s economy is developing vigorously， the Tibetan people live in peace and contentment and enjoy freedom of religious belief and their customs are respected.Piks， who has worked as film director for many years， and the journalists who accompanied him on the visit filmed what they saw in Beijing， Lhasa and Shanghai. They said that after returning home they would show these precious videos to their relatives and colleagues so as to let more people know about the real China.

Piks expressed his sincere thanks to the CPAFFC for its friendly invitation and warm and considerate arrangements made by the places they visited.