Building Friendships Between the Caribbean and China
Activities and Prospects for the ABCF
The ABCF’s mission is to build a deeper understanding between the Chinese people and Barbadians and Caribbean people from all walks of life. The association’s focus is on personal experiences, people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges and exchanges of ideas, and the facilitation of travel, business and study. We aim to learn from and build on the experiences of the Caribbean and China, and to develop mutual understandings and support that will be to the benefit of both sides.
The Association was launched at a gala event at the Barbados Hilton on May 23, 2019, attended by representatives of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Government of Barbados and the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in Barbados. The event featured performances by a troupe from the Minzu University of China as well as Barbadian performers.
The Association celebrated its fifth anniversary with an afternoon of “barefoot elegance” under cover overlooking the beach at Nautilus Ocean Suites resort on Bay Street, St Michael on Sunday May 26, 2024. Members, friends and guests, among them Ambassador Yan of the People’s Republic of China, enjoyed food and entertainment that was a mixture of the Caribbean and the Chinese. In person anniversary celebrations had resumed in 2023, with a luncheon event at Maxwell Del Mar restaurant, after three years of virtual celebrations.
The association maintains a website, ABCF-BB.com, which is updated regularly with items of Chinese news and culture as well as our own activities and those of associated institutions in Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean.
The ABCF publishes a weekly newsletter with updates of activities, news and commentaries drawn from a variety of knowledgeable, specialised sources and contributions from members. Everyone is invited to subscribe to our newsletter by contacting us at the email below.
The ABCF has joined with the Zhejiang International Studies University (ZISU) in Hangzhou, China to host a series of Youth Forums, organised and presented by student members of the ABCF and students of ZISU. The sixth forum takes place by Zoom on Friday November 29 at 9pm Barbados time (Atlantic Standard Time), on the theme “How sports travel the world: Table Tennis vs Road Tennis”.
ABCF delegates Joshua Johnson and Aliah-Rose Taitt attended the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) in Beijing from October 9 – 13, followed by the Sixth China-Latin America and the Caribbean Friendship Forum in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China, from October 13 – 16. At the conference Mr Johnson was nominated to the Latin American and Caribbean Federation for Friendship with the People’s Republic of China (FALCARPC) as Secretary for Youth.
The 70th anniversary celebrations of the CPAFFC were honoured by presence of President Xi Jinping himself at a meeting in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. In his address to delegates President Xi pointed out that people-to-people friendship is the foundation for stable and sustained international relations and an inexhaustible driving force for promoting world peace and development. He stressed that China’s economic progress has not only developed the country itself but also benefited the world, and that China's achievements in various fields would not have been possible without the support of the peoples of the world. The President spoke of the important role of friendship associations around the world in promoting a broad consensus on building a community with a shared future for mankind. Our associations should encourage active participation in new opportunities offered by the Chinese modernization process, and enhance understanding and deepen friendship through sincere communication between the Chinese and the peoples of all our countries.
The ABCF is an active participant in the annual Fish & Dragon Festival, which was held in-person at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium this year, after three years of virtual festivals. The 2025 edition of the Festival is slated for January 19 next year.
The ABCF maintains active liaison with the Chinese embassy in Barbados, the Confucius Institute, the Chinese Association of Barbados, the Language Club of the UWI Cave Hill, the Returned Students Association of Barbados, and other friendship associations and Chinese associations across the region. Our association is also part of a global network that is coordinated by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries in Beijing. Representatives of the CPAFFC joined us for the launch of the ABCF, and a CPAFFC delegation from Beijing visited with us last year.
Looking ahead, the association expects to enrich the information and scope of our website and weekly updates, as well as to continue and enhance our established activities, the Youth Forum, social events and celebrations. Through our representative on the Latin American and Caribbean Federation for Friendship with the People’s Republic of China we aim to build more durable links with Friendship Associations in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, as and when resources become available, we plan to revive the association’s magazine, Exchanges.
R. DeLisle Worrell, Ph D
President
November 8, 2024
Principal Officers and Contact Information, ABCF
R. DeLisle Worrell, Ph D, President
Dr Chelston Brathwaite, Vice-President
David Bulbulia, Vice-President and Co-Director of the Confucius Institute
Deborah Harper, Secretary
Daniel Hinds, Assistant Secretary
Joshua Johnson, ABCF representative and Youth Secretary, FALCARPC
Sarah Grant, Administrative Officer
NIE Lu, Co-Director of the Confucius Institute
Philomena Lee, Secretary-Treasurer of the Chinese Association of Barbados
Dr Che Corbin, President, Returned Students Association
Monica Drayton Worrell, Chair, Events Coordination
Rosanna Brathwaite, Events Coordinator
Roxanne Brancker, Editorial services
Helene Zamor, Student co-ordination, UWI Language Club
Phone: 1 246 288 1356
Email: ABCFBBassn@gmail.com
Address: Floyd H. Phillips
Solicitor and Attorney-at-law
Suite 102, Warrens Court
Warrens
St Michael
Barbados
The ABCF mission is to build a deeper understanding between the Chinese people and Barbadians and Caribbean people from all walks of life. The association’s focus is on personal experiences, people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges and exchanges of ideas, and the facilitation of travel, business and study. From the outset we aim to learn from and build on the experiences of the Caribbean and China, and to develop mutual understandings and support that will be to the benefit of both sides.
