WE EXTEND a cordial welcome to State Councillor of the People's Republic of China, Madame Wu Yi, and her entourage of 40 Chinese Government officials and businessmen who are in Jamaica on a three-day official visit. A delegation of 40 persons may seem large to us but, we presume, not to Madame Wu Yi who is a representative of the most populous country on earth, over one billion souls.
Chinese civilisation is also one of the oldest in the world and although still classified as a communist country, its economy behind the scenes is being quietly modernised, taking from Western capitalism those features which have proven effective in fostering growth and competitiveness in world trade.
We extend the hand of friendship to Madame Wu Yi, not just to grasp what aid or trade opportunities may result from her visit, but to salute the important role Chinese Jamaicans have played in the island's development down the years. The first Chinese who came to our shores put down local roots and the ubiquitous 'Chinese shop' became a feature of every town and village, run by hard-working families who lived above the shop. The next generation, some of the brightest in our school system, were fully Jamaican, fluent in patois and standard English and inter-racial marriages became more and more common an existential celebration of our motto 'Out of many, one people'.
There was an unfortunate interval of disharmony in the '70s when a perception gained ground that Chinese were no longer welcome and many of them migrated to the United States and Canada. Whether such a perception was officially encouraged by the Government of the day is unclear, but we think that a generation of Jamaicans with no knowledge of those times needs to be able to put into perspective the irony of a Chinese Jamaican like Michael Lee Chin returning to Jamaica from Canada to invest in and revitalise the National Commercial Bank.
More and more Jamaicans are visiting China as tourists to explore its rich cultural heritage, returning home with lasting memories of climbing the Great Wall and saluting the fabulous terra cotta soldiers at Xian. We wish Madame Wu Yi and her delegation a very pleasant visit to our small island in the sun.
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