Chinese envoy hails vibrant media exchanges for bridging knowledge gap in South Sudan

JUBA, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan Ma Qiang on Wednesday said media exchanges between the two countries have helped strengthen people-to-people relations by bridging knowledge gaps.

Ma said during the day-long media symposium held in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, that the media exchanges over the years have promoted cultural exchanges between China and South Sudan.

"The media is an important window for deepening mutual understanding between China and South Sudan. Through the media, the Chinese people can see a South Sudan that is moving toward peace and stability and is full of development opportunities," Ma said.

The media symposium was attended by 15 South Sudanese journalists and news editors.

Ma noted that the training of South Sudan journalists in China over the years has enabled people in South Sudan to understand a real, multidimensional, and comprehensive China.

"I believe that through your efforts, South Sudanese people will be able to break out of the outdated frameworks and many false narratives about China established by the Western media, and build your own perspective on China," he said. "Together, we will tell the stories of an energetic, bustling China and the stories of China and South Sudan working hand in hand to build a community with a shared future for mankind."

Yath Awan Yath, undersecretary for the Ministry of Information, Communication Technology and Postal Services, praised the Chinese Embassy for supporting both government-owned and private media houses in the country.

"I am very impressed to see that the government of China is collaborating with the media in the private sector, and this is very important for us because we are developing an inclusive policy in which private media houses and private institutions that are working in the media sector are included in all aspects of development," Yath said.

Majak Daniel Kuany Alier, secretary general of the Union of Journalists of South Sudan (UJOSS), said the media training in China has enabled journalists to act responsibly in their duties.

"We are seeing in all the newspapers and radio stations that they have embarked on nurturing public responsibility in all their programming, and this is one thing that everybody should emulate the media fraternity in this country," Alier said.

He said the UJOSS has already started building the capacity of journalists on electoral reporting in preparation for the upcoming elections.