CPAFFC Vice President Li Xiaolin and Her Party in Japan

To consolidate friendly relations and enhance friendship-city ties， a delegation of China International Friendship Cities Association (CIFCA) and China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development (CFFPD) headed by CPAFFC Vice President Li Xiaolin visited Tokyo and Niigata from January 25 to 28. The delegation was invited by the Niigata Prefectural Government and the Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund.

Meeting Japanese Leaders and High-Level Political Figures

Meeting Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on the day， Li Xiaolin highly praised his contribution to Sino-Japanese friendship and gave a brief account of the work of the CPAFFC， the CIFCA and CFFPD and their contacts with Japan.

She also informed the Prime Minister of the preparations underway for World Expo Shanghai and hoped that he would attend the Expo’s opening ceremony， and discovered a highly receptive listener. Hatoyama said his wife had been born in Shanghai， so he cherished a special feeling for the city and he very much wanted to visit the Shanghai Expo.

The Prime Minister also put emphasis on the importance of exchanges between youth of the two countries.

“The CPAFFC was one of the first organizations engaged in people-to-people friendly exchanges with other countries in the history of New China，” said Li. “We always attach great importance to contact between the Chinese and Japanese young people. Only when they learn to understand each other and live as friends can there be bright future for Sino-Japanese

ship”.

She said that， every year， the China-Japan Friendship Association (CJFA) organized hundreds of Chinese middle school students to visit Japan and， in turn， hosted Japanese school visits to China. In this way it hoped the younger generation of the two countries would observe and understand each other with an objective eye and a peaceful mindset so as to create a strong foundation for further developing bilateral interpersonal relations.

Regarding the work of the CIFCA， she said it currently oversaw 1，600 sister city arrangements， of which 248 involved Japanese cities. Encouraged by the late Premier Zhou Enlai， the ports of Tianjin and Kobe had pioneered friendship-city relations in 1973， and they had maintained close friendly relations and cooperation ever since.

When meeting with the visiting delegation， Satsuki Eda， President of the House of Councilors， talked about his own experiences in China. He went to China for the first time in 1943 with his father who had escaped from imprisonment for his anti-war views and finally reached the northern Chinese city of Shijiazhuang， where he worked as a laborer. The child returned to Japan after the war at the age of four. Eda’s second visit to China was in 1978 at the invitation of the CJFA. He made a special trip to Shi- jiazhuang where his parents had worked in the hope of finding traces of the past. Things had changed with the passage of time and he could not recognize the place， he recalled.

President Eda said that China was his second motherland and he was glad to see the country progress with each passing day. He expressed admiration for China’s eye-catching achievements and suggested it make careful use of its resources as well as protecting the environment. He told the delegation that Japan had suffered serious cases of pollution during its rapid economic development in the 1960s and 1970s and learned many hard lessons. Through years of arduous efforts， improvements had been obtained， but he hoped China would not repeatJapan’s mistakes.

Li Xiaolin also called on Kenji Yamaoka， Chairman of DPJ’s Diet Policy Committee; Yoshihiro Kawakami， member of the House of Councilors; Chinami Nishimura， Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs; Natsuo Yamaguchi， Chief Representative of the New Komeito Party; Tomoko Ukishima， member of the House of Councilors for the NKP; Ryotaro Tanose， Chairman of LDP’s General Council， and Katsuhito Asano， member of the House of Councilors for the LDP. These meetings enabled the Japanese political figures to get to better the work of the CPAFFC， CIFCA and CFFPD， and helped enhance CPAFFC’s links with Japan while further consolidating the friendly relations between the two countries.

Visiting Local Authorities

The delegation was accorded warm welcome by the Niigata Prefectural Government when it arrived in the western Honshu coastal region. Li Xiaolin had meetings with Governor Hirohiko Izumida， Deputy Governor Kunio Mori， Mayor Akira Shinoda of Niigata City， President Michiei Takahashi of the Niigata Nippo and President Matsuji Takeishi of the Broadcasting System of Niigata. Governor Izumida thanked China for giving Niigata two crested ibises. He said， 2009 was the 25th anniversary of the twinning between Niigata Prefecture and Heilongjiang Province， during which the two sides had carried out fruitful exchanges. China would open a consulate-general in Niigata within 2010 and he looked forward to this day. The Governor was inspired by China’s economic takeoff and wished great success of the Shanghai Expo.

Li Xiaolin said many cities in China wished to further their contact and cooperation with Niigata. This September， the China International Friendship Cities Conference would be held in Shanghai， and 300 to 500 representatives from cities around the world would be invited to attend the conference. She hoped that Governor Izumida would head the Niigata delegation to the conference and， together with other delegates， explore common issues such as climate warming， resources pro- tection， low-carbon life， urban planning and construction， etc. faced by humanity.

Calling on Friends Old and New

In Tokyo， the delegation paid a visit to Soka Gakkai， an old contact of the CPAFFC and was given warm reception by Kenji Yoshigo， its Vice President， and other members. Yoshigo conveyed to Li Xiaolin greetings from Daisaku Ikeda， founder of Soka Gakkai International.

The Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Fund， the largest one committed to promoting exchanges between the two countries， was set up in 1989 and later established links with the CPAFFC and CFFPD. The delegation was warmly welcomed by Yohei Sasakawa， Chairman of the Nippon Foundation and Adviser to the Fund. The two sides exchanged information about their respective activities in charity and public welfare and their views on how to further the friendly contacts between the two countries in an amicable atmosphere. They agreed to make more efforts for youth exchanges to increase the fields and scale of such contacts.