‘Look with 2 eyes’: Beijing envoy urges South Korean media to report on ‘real China’
- Xing Haiming calls for less Western and negative coverage of his country
- He accuses some countries of spreading false information and confrontation
Addressing media executives at an event to mark the seventh anniversary of the Korea Foreign Language Newspaper Association in Seoul on Monday, Xing Haiming called on the media to report objectively on the “real and vivid China” and promote cooperation.
“I hope that South Korean media will look at China with ‘two eyes’, not only focusing on the negative side, but also on the positive side; not only on the position of other countries but also stand on the Chinese side; not only quoting Western media reports on China but also referring to Chinese media reports,” the Chinese embassy quoted Xing as saying.
“Now, a handful of countries have taken advantage of their narrative hegemony and disseminated false information and provoked confrontation, damaging objectively and fairness and news coverage.
“The press should play its role well to quash rumours and disseminate truth and become sources of reliable information.”
Describing journalists as “uncrowned kings”, Xing said the media was the main way people of all countries understood each other.
Echoing Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s comments to South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin last week, Xing said it was in the interest of both sides to develop good relations between the two countries.
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The association includes three English-language newspapers and one Chinese-language outlet, all based in South Korea. Also attending the event was the British ambassador to Seoul, Colin Crooks.
Xing’s remarks come after a number of surveys indicating that South Koreans see China more unfavourably than ever.
In South Korea, negative views of China reached an all-time high of 80 per cent, compared with 62 per cent in 2018, according to a poll by Pew Research Centre released last month.
About three-quarters of South Korean respondents to the survey said they considered the state of bilateral relations with China to be poor, and more than half saw China’s involvement in domestic politics to be a very serious problem for South Korea.
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