"Too great changes have taken place in China, I feel excited to see
every change of it," Mr. David exclaimed without any reserve to the
reporter in a relatively standard tone of Mandarin. Recalling of
1982 when I just came to Beijing I found few flowers and plants
along the street and people were dressed in simple clothes of dull
colors, and I could find few varieties of vegetable in the market.
But now the changes are too great.
At
that time Mr. David was in his office as political counselor, then
minister counselor and now he's the Australian ambassador to China.
"It can be said that I have witnessed the earth-shaking changes and
benefits brought to the people by the policy of reform and
opening-up," he said, "however, what makes me particularly
satisfied is that I have made a lot of friends here in China."
Speaking of his impression on the CPPCC and the NPC, he said, "The
two conventions are the two of great importance that must be held
every year in China. Many foreigners pay great attention to them.
Through the two meetings, we can come to know the work the Chinese
government have done in the previous year and many hot issues the
common people are concerned for, get to know the NPC system in
China, thereby making the foreigners have a bettering understanding
of the operation of the Chinese government. He expressed great
interest in this matter, and wished the "two meetings" a successful
ending.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the
diplomatic relations between Australia and China. In dealing with
the friendly relationship between the two countries, said David
Irvine, it can be traced back to the 1880s. From then on the
Chinese began to set feet on the land of Australia. Since then the
Chinese descendants have been living there for five or six
generations and have contributed a lot to the earlier exploration
and development of Australia. On entering into the 20th century and
especially since the establishment of diplomatic relations between
the two countries in 1972 the relations of the two countries have
made great headway in the fields of economy and trade, science and
technology, agriculture, tourism and culture and education, etc.
Now, we see every year more than 100,000 Chinese visit to Australia
and vice versa, 250,000 Australians come to tour in China. The
interactive visits and exchanges have greatly increased the mutual
understanding of the peoples between the two countries, thereby
laying a solid foundation for the good cooperation between the two
countries.
In
his sincere congratulations to China's entry into the WTO, Mr.
David Irvine said, I believe that China's entry into the WTO will
be a great spur to the trade development between the two countries
and it would mean a bigger cooperation in a wider area. Should
China haven't entered the WTO, it would likewise mean many great
opportunities brought by China to the development of the global
economy, he said, so long as China's economy can keep on its
development at such a pace. However, the joining of the WTO would
do China good in a long-term point of view.
When he was talking he was very much expressive, in which he
stressed himself with many gestures. When he was speaking of the
Chinese living and studying in Australia, he told the reporter that
the Chinese descendants come to some 300,000 - 400,000 in Australia
and the Chinese students there come to a number of 20,000 - 30,000
with the number still on the increase. As a country of immigrants,
the Chinese descendants have made a great contribution to the
social development in Australia and have become an important
component part in the Australian society. At present, there are
excellent Chinese who are working in all walks of life there. In
the political field, you'll see the Chinese elite at the leading
posts, said David. There have been some Chinese take up the posts
of mayors in the capital cities of the two states: one being John
So, mayor of Melbourne, capital city of Victoria State and Alfred
Huang, mayor of Adelaide, capital city of the South Australia.
David Irvine who's also the offspring of immigrants himself
expressed his sincere admiration at the great contribution made by
the Chinese descendants in Australia.
Along with the increasing number of the Chinese students studying
in Australia, expressed David Irvine, they are playing the role of
a bridge for the link-up and exchange between the two counties. And
the Australian Government has so far made no alteration as to its
policy about the Chinese students studying in Australia. Meanwhile
he hopes that the Chinese students will return after the completion
of their studies there and serve China with what they've learned in
Australia, thereby making contributions to the modernization cause
and economic development in China.
(People's Daily
March 15, 2002)