BEIJING — A Communist Party USA delegation headed by national chair Sam Webb arrived here Nov. 30 for a party-to-party exchange. In the first three days the delegation visited many historic sites, including the tomb of Mao Zedong, the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, the Chinese People’s Revolutionary Military Museum and an exhibition on the Long March of the 1930s.
The delegation also attended a show at the Beijing Urban Planning Exhibition Hall where they saw plans for the 2008 Olympics and the city’s future. Webb said, “Everywhere you look in Beijing new buildings are being constructed. It is a city with a vibrant economic life.”
The four-person delegation includes Jarvis Tyner, the party’s executive vice chair, Scott Marshall, labor secretary, and Pamella Saffer, international secretary.
Seeing the sights was not the only item on the itinerary. The CPUSA leaders met with Communist Party of China leaders, unionists and women’s leaders.
CPC International Department Vice Minister Ma Wenpu met with the delegation over a sumptuous lunch. Explaining the role of the CPC in Chinese society, Ma said, “The goal of the Communist Party of China is to build a harmonious socialist society.”
The lunch meeting was held at the ultra-modern, newly built 16-story office building of the International Department of the CPC, which stands out as one of the most attractive buildings in all of Beijing.
Liao Dung, director-general of the CPC’s bureau for North America, Oceana and Nordic Affairs, also participated.
Earlier meetings were held with Zhu Bin, deputy director of the All China Federation of Trade Unions International Department, Zhang Shiping, member of the secretariat of the All China Women’s Federation, and Minister Wang Jiarui of the CPC’s International Department.
Among the topics discussed were China-U.S. relations, the need for six-party talks on North Korea, CPUSA and CPC relations, women’s equality, the urgent struggle to end the war in Iraq, the impact of globalization and trade issues, and China-Africa relations.
The delegation was to also visit Shenzhen and Guangzhou before making a brief visit to Vietnam.
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