The Third General Assembly of the
Association of Asian Parliaments
for Peace (AAPP) opens Tuesday afternoon at the Great Hall of
the People, Beijing with the attendance of Li Peng, Chairman of the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and Vice
President Hu Jintao at the opening ceremony. Li Peng delivers a
welcome speech and Hu Jintao reads President Jiang Zemin's
congratulation letter to the opening of the meeting. From April 17
to 19, the meeting will move to
Chongqing, and the
Chongqing Declaration of AAPP will be adopted before the
closing ceremony.
The Parliament delegations from 39 countries participating in the
assembly include 24 parliament heads and nine deputy heads. The
number of foreign deputies exceeds 400. Eight delegations arrived
in Beijing Sunday afternoon. The NPC delegation of China is headed
by Zhou Guangzhao, vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee.
Lu
Congmin, deputy secretary-general of the NPC Standing Committee,
introduced the preparation and agenda of the AAPP assembly to the
media at a press conference Monday in the Great Hall of the
People.
"It's the most important work for the NPC to take this year, " Lu
said. He mentioned such successful precedents to this international
conference hosted by the NPC as the 1996 International Parliament
Union (IPU) Conference and the Sixth Session of Congressman
Conference on Environment and Development of Asian-Pacific Nations
in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 1998.
Lu
said that deputies from participating countries will focus on this
year's theme of Peace and Development and will discuss three topics
that are common concerns of the people all over the world:
multi-polarization and world peace, economic globalization and
developing countries, and closer international cooperation and
establishment of a new international political and economic
order.
In
the spirit of drawing on the wisdom of various parties, seeking
common points while reserving differences, friendly consultation
and expanding mutual understanding, the assembly will adopt the
Chongqing Declaration of AAPP, which will be its sole and
most important common document, Lu said.
As
the host of the assembly, China had organized a special staff to
draft the Declaration in a document that includes ten parts,
namely: Foreword, General view on the current situation in Asia and
in the world at large, The significant role of Asia in the
international arena, The role of parliaments in promoting world and
regional peace and development, Peace and the democratization of
international relations, Economic globalization and common
development, Security, Human rights, The establishment of a new
international political and economic order, and Exchanges and
cooperation among parliaments.
"According what we've heard, all concerned parties have been
actively and earnestly dealing with the issues; and they recognize
the basic principles stipulated in the Declaration (Draft).
During the session, the drafting committee will continue to
exchange views and ideas with the delegations from all
participating countries, polish the present draft into a final
draft and submit it to the assembly for adoption," Lu said.
AAPP was established in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh in September
1999. It is a regional organization representing parliaments from
countries in Asia and the Pacific as well as sovereign countries
with territories in Asia. With 36 member countries, it is at
present the largest regional parliamentary organization in Asia.
Also, it is the most influential forum and channel for Asian
parliaments and parliamentarians to open dialogue and exchanges.
AAPP has held two annual meetings, in Bangladesh and Cambodia
respectively.
(by Han Lin, China.org.cn staff reporter, translated by Liu
Wenlong, Chen Chao and Li Jinhui, April 16, 2002)