The people of Free China rarely had the pleasure of entertaining such an eminent personage as His Imperial Majesty Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, with whose coming the traditional friendship between China and Iran will undoubtedly be greatly strengthened.
The mere mention of Iran, or its old name Persia, arouses in us fond memories of long historical associations. The Chinese people have great admiration for individuals or nations of great age. As a nation of four thousand years old, we find few countries in the world today to talk about bygone days of glory with us. In Iran, however, we find one such country. The land washed by the waters of the Tigris and the Indus and the Caspian and Arabian Seas is the cradle of Western civilization and commands profound respect from the Chinese. This respect is greatly heightened by the long centuries of friendship between the Persian and the Chinese empires. Through the ages emissaries passed between the two peoples, bringing to each gifts and culture of the other. Before the inroad of modern Western imperialism and recent Soviet imperialism, the two ancient countries each shone like a heavenly body in its orbit - one in the West and the other in the East. This was coexistence as it should be. For the benefit of those who are not aware of this brilliant chapter of history or who have reason to doubt the cordiality of relations between the two ancient empires, we wish to refer them to the Ardebil Shrine in Iran, which houses one of the biggest and best collections of ancient Chinese porcelains in the world today.
In recent years, both China and Iran found themselves menaced by the same malicious forces of aggression in the form of Soviet imperialism. Our admiration goes to His Majesty who, despite all the trials and tribulations since His Majesty's ascension to the throne, steered the ship of state through the vortex of Communist uprisings and Soviet aggression and who, through his far-sightedness and enlightened statesmanship, brought peace and prosperity to his twenty-odd million subjects.
Many factors are responsible, for enabling nations such as China and Iran to outlast other old nations. The most important of these, are perhaps the vitality of their peoples and, at their crucial moments, the wisdom of old age to tell the right from the wrong. With these qualities they have witnessed and successfully gone through many vicissitudes of fortune and trials and tribulations. Both these qualities have now come to the fore in Iran and China when the two countries are faced with mortal danger from Communist aggression. While half the world has gone Communist or is wavering, we are convinced that it is our duty to fight Communism to the best of our ability or render assistance to other nations that are faced with the same danger.
In bidding welcome to the Shah and His Majesty's party, we hope that they will, during their short stay here, witness our determination and ability to defend ourselves against Communist aggression and that they and we ourselves would be able to draw courage and comfort from each other for having gained information on the other's capabilities in combating Communism. Above all, we wish to assure them that wherever they go, they will be received with profound reverence and traditional Chinese hospitality.