Perspectives
by Lia Sciortino
Perspectives
China’s PR Problem Rears Its Head
Johanna Son
.bmp)
CHIANG MAI, Dec 11 (TerraViva/IPS Asia-Pacific) - Powerful neighbour. A rising power. Old friend. Big, secretive investor. Big boy of the region.
These were some of the terms participants at a talk-show format discussion at the Mekong Media Forum used when asked to share the images of China they get from the media.
Reading Media
Johanna Son
BANGKOK -- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. What images might these words conjure up in the minds of international consumers of news? Perhaps war, maybe the Khmer Rouge. Or they might say, ‘Oh, it’s that those countries that had that war some time ago. . . they’re near one another, and they’re all the same’.
China: Benign Bully of the Mekong?
Johanna Son
SYDNEY, Oct 3 (IPS Asia-Pacific) – Over the last decade or so, China’s deft use of soft power has seen South-east Asian neighbours’ view of it change from a looming threat to a largely friendly, if still imposing, giant to the north.
Ineffective ASEAN Mekong Basin Council Shut Down
KUALA LUMPUR - The Asean Mekong Basin Development Cooperation (AMBDC) council is to be dissolved and its functions will return to the Asean Economic Ministers (AEM) agenda, Minister of
International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz in late August.
She said the council failed to play its role effectively due to administrative and financial constraints. "In its previous meetings, the representatives who attended them are at
the official level who can't make decisions. When there is no decision then there is no coordination with the centre. "Without decisions there will be problems in implementation," Rafidah told reporters after the meeting between the Asean Economic Ministers and the Eminent Person's Group here.
The AMBDC is pertinent in projects like implementing the Singapore-Kunming (China) railway track costing 1.8 billion U.S. dollars. The Trans Asia railway line will pass through Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.
Malaysia, she said had conducted a detailed technical study on the proposed railway line especially the additional links to be added. "Malaysia has identified the missing links in the railway line. Now we
only need the financial resources to finance the project.
"This we have handed over to the Thais, yet though seven years have passed there is no development "Therefore, we feel that we have to bring it back the Asean Finance Ministers attention so we can follow up more effectively," said Rafidah.
But three days later, the Chinese government said it feels the council should be retained to
accelerate the construction of the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link project.
Director General of Yunnan Provincial Lanchang-Mekong River of Economic Cooperation Office, Wang Minzheng, said that the AMBDC council could ensure the successful implementation of the 8,000 kilometres pan-Asian railway project. "It is regretted if the mechanism has to stop. The main task of this
mechanism is to establish the rail link," he told Bernama after attending the AMBDC meeting here.
(Aug. 23 and 26, Bernama)
Mekong's Avian Flu
UID).jpg)
What's New
Mekong ICT Camp 2010
The Mekong ICT Camp (http://mekongict.org), a biannual training workshop on information, communication, and technologies for citizen media, community health, and civil society practitioners in Mekong subregion, is accepting applications until Mar. 31, 2010. Participants are welcome from the Mekong countries, including Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
COMING SOON: 'TALKING GENDER IN THE MEKONG MEDIA'
.jpg)
BANGKOK - Do media organisations in the Mekong Region think that gender sensitivity, including giving voices to women, is part of doing better stories? How do they define it within the context of their societies and how do they report on different genders and sexuality? Do they include the use of gender-friendly language in their stylebooks and training programmes? How much is using a gender lens a news habit?
Post new comment