Culture And Media
Italy: Chinese minister lauds freedom of expression the digital era
Rome, 22 October (AKI) - The Chinese government welcomes the digital area and the greater pluralism of information that the Internet and new media allow, China's information minister Wang Chen told Adnkronos on Thursday. He made the comments during a visit to the Adnkronos Group's headquarters in the Italian capital, Rome, where he met group president Giuseppe Marra.
"Equality between news media is a very important issue in China, and we are backing the creation of a media association and the growth of commercial media to increase the sector's competitiveness and credibility," Wang said.
"In China, the spread of digital technologies has strengthened democracy and also freedom of expression,"he stressed.
China's president Hu Jintao pledged to uphold these human rights in his address to the recent World Media Summit held in Beijing, Wang noted.
"The growth of the Internet in China has greatly increased freedom of expression. In no country in the world can you control 180 million bloggers," Wang stated.
"China has millions of Internet users, content is varied and we hope to see this develop strongly."
According to the latest figures available, there are 350 million Internet users, including over 180 million bloggers and 3 million websites, Wang said.
"The government's policy is to open up the Internet but to check that the regulatory framework is respected.
"Any blogger must complete the forms required to register their website. Once they have done this, the site can go live," said Wang.
His visit to Italy followed the World Media Summit held in the Chinese capital, Beijing earlier this month, which was attended by senior representatives of 130 media organisations from around the world.
Wang said the summit had achieved its two key objectives of mutual knowledge and greater cooperation between countries.
Great potential for integration between 'traditional' and 'new' media also emerged during the summit, he said.
"I especially noted prospects for integration between 'traditional' and 'new' media but also between media from different countries - thanks in particular to new technologies," he stated.
The current global recession has curbed some countries' opportunities for economic development, while it has created opportunities for others and increased the desire for joint projects.
"I personally believe we need to urgently adopt new technologies and grasp all the opportunities these present," he said.
Wang said he agreed with comments made by some speakers at the Beijing summit criticising the dominance of news by state media. Speakers also criticised the power of giant US networks like Yahoo, Google, Facebook and Twitter.
"We do not only want to see state media," Wang said.
"Equality between news media is a very important issue in China, and we are backing the creation of a media association and the growth of commercial media to increase the sector's competitiveness and credibility," Wang said.
"In China, the spread of digital technologies has strengthened democracy and also freedom of expression,"he stressed.
China's president Hu Jintao pledged to uphold these human rights in his address to the recent World Media Summit held in Beijing, Wang noted.
"The growth of the Internet in China has greatly increased freedom of expression. In no country in the world can you control 180 million bloggers," Wang stated.
"China has millions of Internet users, content is varied and we hope to see this develop strongly."
According to the latest figures available, there are 350 million Internet users, including over 180 million bloggers and 3 million websites, Wang said.
"The government's policy is to open up the Internet but to check that the regulatory framework is respected.
"Any blogger must complete the forms required to register their website. Once they have done this, the site can go live," said Wang.
His visit to Italy followed the World Media Summit held in the Chinese capital, Beijing earlier this month, which was attended by senior representatives of 130 media organisations from around the world.
Wang said the summit had achieved its two key objectives of mutual knowledge and greater cooperation between countries.
Great potential for integration between 'traditional' and 'new' media also emerged during the summit, he said.
"I especially noted prospects for integration between 'traditional' and 'new' media but also between media from different countries - thanks in particular to new technologies," he stated.
The current global recession has curbed some countries' opportunities for economic development, while it has created opportunities for others and increased the desire for joint projects.
"I personally believe we need to urgently adopt new technologies and grasp all the opportunities these present," he said.
Wang said he agreed with comments made by some speakers at the Beijing summit criticising the dominance of news by state media. Speakers also criticised the power of giant US networks like Yahoo, Google, Facebook and Twitter.
"We do not only want to see state media," Wang said.
Bookmark whit:
