Chinese association for peace visited Stockholm - there can be no peace in a world of misery

NewsVoice was invited to take part in a meeting with representatives from the Chinese People's Association for Peace and Disarmament. The meeting titled "Sweden and Global Security" was arranged by the Schiller Institute in Sweden.

The aim of the meeting was to improve further peace work and communication between China, Sweden, and Europe.

The Chinese People's Association for Peace and Disarmament (CPAPD.org.cn), established in June 1985, is China's largest nationwide non-governmental peace organisation, comprising 24 influential member organisations and prominent individuals from diverse backgrounds.

The CPAPD aims to foster mutual understanding, friendship, and cooperation between the people of China and the global community to promote world peace, oppose the arms race and war, advocate for arms control and disarmament, seek the complete prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, protect the ecological environment, and advance social harmony and sustainable development.

The CPAPD delegation to Sweden consisted of four people who met with members of the Schiller Institute's board and a few others with whom the institute collaborates on peace work in Sweden.

The meeting participants shared diverse opinions and experiences from their work in peacebuilding in Europe, as well as ideas on how to improve the current situation between China and the European Union.

The chairman of the Schiller Institute in Sweden, Ulf Sandmark, welcomed the CPAPD delegation: Deputy Secretary General Yan Yinghua and Assistant Research Fellow Wong Tsing.

Sandmark says people come together from different sides of the political spectrum to commemorate Hiroshima Day against nuclear war. The Swedish Institute has also led numerous meetings against Swedish NATO membership, as well as the Swedish parliament's decision to allow the US to establish military bases at 17 locations throughout Sweden.

Sandmark admits to NewsVoice that many Chinese delegations hold meetings with European think tanks and politicians who tend to idealise the West, and that notion needs to be challenged by alternative views.

That's why independent organisations, media outlets, and individuals not under the direct influence of particular Western geopolitical agendas can foster a deeper understanding of the true West and how to better cooperate in these new times (editor's remark).