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Pak-China media collaborations for enhancing relations
By Uzma
Zafar
The people and government of the People’s Republic of China are
today celebrating 58 National Day. This is also the year when
Pakistan and China are jointly celebrating the 56th year of
establishmentof diplomatic relations between the two countries.
56 years back, when Pakistan and China were signing the papers to
establish formal diplomatic relations, the media, not only in these
countries, but also all over the world was, by no means, as fast and
as strong tool of information as it is today. With the passage of
time, media continued to flourish and attain more and more mature
status in both the countries. There is no doubt that Pakistani and
Chinese media, both had been playing some role in bringing the
people of the two nations closer, yet there was always an acute need
of a better and stronger interaction amongst the media personnel
from both the countries. Though Chinese publications like China
Pictorial (Cheen Baa Tassveer) did come as effective periodicals to
bring knowledge about people of China to the people of Pakistan but
the need of enhanced media endeavors for enhancing people to people
contact continued to increase with rapidly growing importance of
media.
Today there are hundreds of newspapers and magazines in Pakistan and
the number is far higher in China. Similarly there has been a
mushroom growth of electronic media organizations in both the
countries, owing to the wonderful media policies adopted by
Islamabad and Beijing. Nevertheless, this media development enhanced
the onus of the media in both the countries to play more effective
and larger role for the promotion of bilateral ties and for the
promotion and protection of the Pak-China Friendship. Media
personnel from both the countries have been visiting Pakistan and
China as part of official delegations, yet there was no pure
professional interaction amongst them at the organizational level.
It was only a couple of years back when Mr. Makhdoom Babar,
President and Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Mail came up with a new
vision for the promotion of media relations between Pakistan and
China. To materialize his vision and ideas for serving the cause of
Pak-China Friendship through joint media endeavors, Mr. Makhdoom
came up with different strategies to form a professional
collaboration between Chinese and Pakistani journalists and media
organizations. First step in this regard was initiated when The
Daily Mail signed a breakthrough accord of professional
collaboration with China's top ranking English Daily, China Daily in
2005. This was just the first step in the direction of forging a
composite professional collaboration amongst Pakistani and Chinese
media. Soon after the signing of the agreement with China Daily, The
Daily Mail introduced a new segment in it's daily publications by
dedicating one full page to news about China everyday and the same
is still in practice with a goal of increasing it to two and
ultimately to four pages everyday.
Getting encouraged by the experiment of collaboration with China
Daily, President and Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Mail took another
initiative and formed Pakistan-China Media Friendship Association
the same year. Pak-China Media Friendship Association is a body,
formed with the aim to provide journalists of both countries with
frequent opportunities to have professional interactions and both
formal and informal meetings and other activities. Soon after it's
inception, the Association gained an immense response from the
journalists of both the countries with a rapidly increasing number
of members. Today, the number of registered members of Pak-China
Media friendship Association from both the countries is over 250.
As Chairman of Pak-China Media Friendship Association, President of
The Daily Mail held it's first function at Beijing in February 2006
with Ambassador of Pakistan to China; His Excellency Mr.Salman
Bashir as the Chief Guest. This was the first ever function of it's
kind as before this, no media organization could organize such an
event in either country. During the ceremony, certificates of
excellence were distributed amongst the Chinese journalists and
members of the association in recognition of their respective
professional achievements and for their services to the cause of
promotion of Pak-China Friendship as well for maintaining of high
standards of professionalism. A simple yet impressive ceremony for
the same purpose was also held at Shanghai during the same period
while a function for the same purpose is scheduled to be held at
Islamabad soon.
In the next phase, The Daily Mail signed an agreement of
professional collaboration with China's number one Chinese language
newspaper People's Daily. This agreement also covers the exchange of
personnel from both the organizations under a joint study programme
for enhancing the professional capabilities of the journalists from
both the countries and also with aim of providing them with ample
opportunities for learning more and more about socio-economic and
geo-political as well cultural scenarios of each other's country.
Speaking at the occasion, Mr.Makhdoom vowed to take Pak-China, time
tested and all-weather friendship to new horizons through improvised
media endeavors. He also stressed on the need for joint efforts by
Pakistani and Chinese journalists and media organizations for the
promotion and protection of Pak-China ties and for enhancing the
people to people contacts amongst the peoples of both the countries.
During his meeting with vice President of People's Daily,
Mr.Makhdoom offered to publish and circulate four pages of People's
Daily's overseas edition in Pakistan. The offer was warmly welcomed
and accepted and soon a small edition of People's Daily would be
published and circulated along with The Daily Mail throughout
Pakistan.
A similar agreement was signed with China's leading and most trusted
English language weekly Beijing Review. The Daily Mail extended the
same offer of publishing and circulating Beijing Review along with
The Daily Mail on monthly basis, which was again welcomed and
accepted. After the signing of the agreement, Mr.Makhdoom was also
invited to deliver a lecture to the Editorial staff of Beijing
Review over the topic of 'Role of Media for peace and harmony and
challenges of contemporary scenarios'. President of The Daily Mail,
during his lecture, threw light on the importance of national
interests and the difference between national interests and
professional interests and also elaborated the interpretations of
sensational journalism and substantial journalism.
A meeting was also held between President of The Daily Mail and
President of leading Chinese magazine China's Talents Professor Wang
Xiaopeng. Both discussed a host of issues of bilateral professional
interests and agreed on a number of joint ventures, including the
signing of agreements of professional collaboration and exchange of
personnel. Professor Wang and Mr.Makhdoom also agreed on joint
selection of talented people from both the countries and to honour
them jointly every year.
The President of The Daily Mail also held detailed discussions with
the officials of China Radio International (CRI) and reached a
verbal MoU of signing agreement of professional collaboration
between the two organizations.The Daily Mail and CRI (Urdu) also
agreed on holding of joint quiz programmes and other competitions
for the promotion of Pak-China Friendship.
The Daily Mail Chief also gave interview to various Chinese print
and electronic media organizations and stressed the need for forging
immense professional unity amongst Pakistani and Chinese media
organizations and individual professionals for the promotion of
Pak-China Friendship and for the mutual and bilateral interests of
the two countries.
The Daily Mail's President and Chairman of Pak-China Media
Friendship Association Mr.Makhdoom Babar also held detailed parleys
with officials of All-China Journalists' Association, a body, having
over 7,50,000 Chinese journalists as it's registered members.
Officials of All-China Journalists' Association welcomed the
formation of Pak-China Media Friendship Association. The Director
General of All-China Journalists' Association Mr.Zhu Yinghua
informed Mr.Makhdoom that there had been a lot of media exchanges
between China and Pakistan from the platform of All-China
Journalists' Association but this exchange programme was in a state
of disruption for about past 20 years. He expressed the desire of
resuming the programme of exchange of media delegations between
Pakistan and China in collaboration with Pak-China Media Friendship
Association. Chairman of Pak-China Media Friendship Association
straightaway welcomed the idea and both parties agreed on the same.
A formal agreement in this regard is likely to be signed soon.
Today is the world of media and it is full of a variety of
challenges. However, through the media endeavors that The Daily Mail
and Pak-China Media Friendship Association have initiated, it can
easily be said that the journalists of both Pakistan and China are
quite effectively preparing and gearing up to meet all such
challenges. Through such efforts and initiatives, journalists from
both the countries are getting poised to do for the promotion of
Pak-China Friendship and to meet the prevailing global challenges
that they or their predecessors could not do in the past 55 years.
It can be said that these endeavors are sort of gifts to the people
and particularly the journalists of both the countries by The Daily
Mail on the event of commemoration of 55 years of Pakistan-China
friendship; that is all-weather, time- tested and stronger than
mountains and deeper than oceans.
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