On Monday July 3rd, 2006, at six o'clock in the evening, the Embassy of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in Beijing, China, hosted an anniversary dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Wangfujing Avenue, Beijing, to celebrate the gaining of independence by The Bahamas on July 10th, 1973.

Scores of officials from the Government of the People's Republic of China, lead by His Excellency Yang Jiechi, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, diplomats from other countries, senior executives of companies from around the capital, Bahamian students from Beijing and Shanghai, and friends of The Bahamas, all gathered to bring greetings and raise their glasses in congratulating The Bahamas on yet another milestone in its 33-year history as an independent nation. Special guests also included former Cinese ambassadors to The Bahamas, Ambassadors Ma Shuxue and Jiao Dongcun.

The evening began with a cocktail reception at 6:00 p.m., when guests were greeted by the Head of Mission, Mr. Philip Miller, with warm handshakes and toasts.

At 7:00 p.m., the dinner was officially opened with an outstanding rendition of the Bahamian National Anthem by Mr. Keson Tinker, a first-year Bahamian student, studying Chinese and Japanese at Donghua University in Shanghai, China.

After the National Anthem was sung, the guests were warmly welcomed by Ms Erin Dames, a fourth-year Bahamian student studying medicine at the Peking University Health Science Centre, in Beijing, China.

Mrs. Denise Francis, a recent graduate of Donghua University n Shanghai, specializing in Textile Engineering and Design, then read the message from the Governor-General of The Bahamas, the Honourable Arthur Dion Hanna.

Mr. Osbourne Lockhart, a Bahamian Business and Economics major at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, read the Independence message from the Prime Minister and was followed by Mr. Clifton Armbrister, a second-year Bahamian student of Economics and Computer Science at the Vienna University of Applied Sciences in Vienna Austria and currently on internship at the Bahamas Beijing Embassy, who read the message from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Bahamas.

Toasts were proposed first by the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC), His Excellency Rudolfo Arufe, Cuban Ambassador to China, and then by the Mr. Zhang Shi, General Manager of Qilu Construction Company, the contractor for the Bahamas National Stadium project.

The Head of Mission then gave an address and used the occasion to present plaques to former Ambassadors Ma Shuxue and Jiao Dongcun for their outstanding contributions to fostering peace harmony and friendship between the peoples of China and The Bahamas, during their respective tours of duty in The Bahamas. Keson Tinker acted as Chinese interpreter