A Bridge for Friendship and Harmony

Wales Week Opens to Mark Partnership

Beautiful Cardiff Bay

As a gesture to shake hands with China, Wales, the nation of Red Dragon, opens Wales Week here in Chongqing after careful consideration of the location in China.

Wales Week will last until 11 March. A delegation headed by the R. H. Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister of Welsh Assembly Government, will visit Chongqing for the friendship of the two dragons.

Previously, Chongqing Media Delegation visited Wales during the trip to the UK from 20 to 29 February as invited by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the UK and Welsh Assembly Government.

The Right Honourable said on 21 February in Cardiff, "Chongqing and Wales are enjoying the honeymoon at the moment and the relations, just like marriage, will develop stably, when the curiosity fades away." 

H. E. Premier Wen - The Matchmaker 

Wales is a part of the UK and its autonomous government, the Welsh Assembly Government is headed by the First Minister of Wales.

It was in 2000 that Wales established relations with Chongqing. His Excellency Premier Wen Jiabao, the then Vice Premier of the State Council of China, visited Wales and met with R. H. Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister.

The R. H. can still remember the meeting, "After I told H. E. Mr. Wen that it is always my wish to develop friendship between the Wales and Chinese people, he proposed that Wales could establish a favorable partnership with Chongqing for similar historical backgrounds and geographical positions."

From then on, Wales began to contact with Chongqing.

Two true partners

The R. H., after getting to know Chongqing better, believes that such proposal was made after careful consideration. He said, "Both Chongqing and Wales are located in the west of the counterpart and were both engaged in heavy industry. They share many similarities, and can be true partners".

As the first industrialized area in the world, Wales yet suffered many difficulties in the development, including environmental deterioration, industry transformation and decline and renaissance. The R. H. remarked, "We have gone through many difficulties, and I hope our experience will benefit Chongqing."

The cooperation between Chongqing and Wales began with the industry and extended to other areas. In 2006, Mr. Morgan visited Chongqing and signed a memorandum of understanding with Chongqing on behalf Wales, defining 6 areas of cooperation, including trade and economy, education and training, environment, culture, management approach and agriculture.

From then on, more and more communication between Wales and Chongqing was conducted. Visits and events hosted by government and private delegations exceeded 20 times just in a year.

The honeymonth

Gary Davies, Head of European and External Affairs Committee with the Welsh Assembly government, said, Wales has established friendly relations with other regions/areas, with the longest reaching 15 years, but Wales never established such a close relation in such short time as with Chongqing.

Mr. Morgan said, "The current relationship between Chongqing and Wales is developing very fast due to the similarities and curiosity. I hope our relation will be stable and developing, just like marriage, the honeymoon is just at the beginning."

For such purpose, the delegation headed by Mr. Morgan aims at "strengthening and promoting the memorandum of understanding, especially expanding the communication and cooperation of primary schools, middle schools, colleges and universities; making study in Wales is available for more Chongqing students; and promoting cooperation of the scientists and researchers in researches. 

Besides, the delegation also targets at promoting Wales. "Both the area and population of Chongqing are ten times of Wales. It is quite difficult to promote such a small region in such a large region". Mr. Morgan said, he wished the delegation can reach such target.

According to reports, Wales and Chongqing will formally become "friendly regions" in the near future.

Mr. Morgan expresses his warmest regards and wishes to readers of Chongqing Daily. He said he would step up efforts to build up a bridge for friendship and harmony and seek for cooperation in education, science and technology and other fields with Chongqing.

The R. H. Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister of Welsh Assembly Government, was being interviewed by Chongqing media.

Wales Overview

Population: 2.9 million

Capital: Cardiff with the population of 305,000

Geography: mountainous and hilly, the well-known Welsh Canyon extends to the populous coastal areas.

Economy: Economic focus is shifting from heavy industry to high technology industry; the annual economic growth rate is 5.1% (from 1999 to 2003).

Culture: Wales has favorable climate of art, and is famous for culture and performance.

Language: English, yet 500,000 people speak Welsh in their daily life.

Education: Wales has a knowledge-based economy, focusing on booming economy by education and lifelong learning.
 
"Chao Tianmen" and "Three Gorges Dam" of Wales

The Right Honourable Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister of Welsh Assembly Government was invited for a program about the importance of political speech in the BBC at 8:30 am on 21 February. He talked about the famous speech made by Winston Churchill serving as the Prime Minister in World War Two��Blood, Sweat and Tears.

The R. H. said, "I think, Since Chongqing served as the Command Center for War of Anti-Fascism in Far East and was bombed by hostile aircrafts, the people there might have the same feeling - grief, toughness and determination- as mentioned in the speech." An hour later, Morgan returned to his office for an interview by the Chongqing Media Delegation.

The R. H. said, as Chongqing and Wales had many similarities, they may have a lot in common for future development.

"Chao Tianmen" in Cardiff

Right outside the office is the beautiful Cardiff Bay, where the rivers Taff and Ely join the sea. Thomas, Manager of International Business Wales in Asian and Pacific regions who have been to Chongqing for several times, said, "Both Chao Tianmen and Cardiff Bay are the places where two rivers meet, serving as the origin of cities. Cardiff Bay is just like Chao Tianmen in Chongqing." 

However, different from the lasting prosperity of Chao Tianmen, Cardiff Bay, which was the largest coal port in the world, declined with the falling of coal industry after World War II.

In 1987, the UK launched urban construction and regeneration projects around Cardiff Bay.

The concept can be explained by a Chinese idiom "Build the nest for attracting the phoenix", that is, "build a dam to separate Cardiff Bay from the sea, by which fresh water from Rivers Taff and Ely is kept in the dam while seawater is outside the dam", said an official of Cardiff Harbor Authority. Thus, Cardiff Bay became a lake with fresh water and keeps its beautiful scenery regardless tide rising ad tide ebb.

"The government spent 500 million pounds in the dam and the lake, and private investment made due to the beautiful scenery has exceeded 2 billion pounds", said by an official of Cardiff Harbor Authority.

Cardiff Bay has shifted from a declined city to a vigorous one. The housing price of the Bay remains the same level as the Old Town. Cardiff Bay is a very good example to Chongqing, as there are many mining sites and port to be developed.

"Three Gorges Dam" of Cardiff was promoted admist disputes

The Severn River goes along Cardiff Bay. "A joint project between the government of the UK and Wales is headed by the government, that is, establish a 15-kilometer-long dam around estuary of the Severn River. Hopefully, a tidal power plant will be put into operation in 8 years. This is the Three Gorges Project for Wales," said by Mr. Morgan.

It is reported that tidal variability of the Severn River Dam reaches as high as 14m, ranking the second in the world. When the project is completed, it will meet at least 5% of demands for power in the UK. The concept of the Dam, similar to China��s Three Gorges Dam, was formed over 100 years ago. Fortunately, the Cabinet actively advanced the project in 2007.

However, no one guarantees a bright future for the tidal power plant. Similar the Three Gorges Dam, the Severn River Dam also disputed at the beginning of the design and planning. "The proposal concerning the Dam, although not strongly rejected by the members of the Cabinet, suffered heavy pressure from environmental organizations," said by the head of Cardiff Harbor Authority.

"I believe Chongqing will provide us some useful experience on how to protect ecological environment and how to communicate and balance different suggestions," the R. H. said.