JABAR CHARACTER — Bandung has once again become a hub for Indonesia-China relations. Not through political diplomacy, but rather media cooperation between Mind of the People and Xinhua News which brought the spirit of the Asian-African Conference into the digital era.
Indonesian and Chinese media relations entered a new phase after the Mind of the People Group established strategic cooperation with the official Chinese government news agency, Xinhua News Agency.
A total of 20 Xinhua News representatives came directly from China to Bandung to attend the signing of the news collaboration with Mind of the People. The agenda will take place on Tuesday, November 26 2024, at the People’s Thought Hall, Bandung City, West Java.
The collaboration between the two major media from each country is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between Indonesia and China, especially through exchanging information and collaborating on news content.
After the signing ceremony, the Xinhua group together with the People’s Thoughts continued their visit to the Asian-African Conference Museum (KAA). The history of Bandung as the location where the 1955 Asian-African Conference was born was of particular interest to the Chinese delegation.
“Bandung is better known to the Chinese people than Jakarta because of the Bandung Conference in 1955,” said Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Xinhua News Agency, Ren Weidong.
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Ren admitted that he was impressed with the trip to Bandung using the Whoosh fast train on the Jakarta-Bandung route. According to him, this experience provides a new picture of the development of modern Indonesian transportation.
“The Jakarta-Bandung fast train turns out to be better than China’s,” said Ren when giving a short speech.
Traveling on Whoosh also gave him the opportunity to chat with young Indonesians. From the chat, he saw that there were still many young people who did not know more about China.
“Not many people have the desire to continue their studies or travel to China. The hope is that collaboration with Mind of the People can help introduce China more widely,” he continued.
Ren considered the meeting between Xinhua and Mind of the People to be an important first step for the development of media relations between the two countries in the future.
According to him, 2025 will be a big momentum because it coincides with the commemoration of the Asia-Africa Conference as well as 75 years of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and China.
“I think this is a good start in establishing our cooperation,” he said.
The Xinhua delegation who attended included Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Xinhua News Agency Ren Weidong, Director General of Asia-Pacific Bureau Wang Jinfu, Director General of Inner Mongolia Bureau Liu Wei, and Editor-in-Chief of China Comment Ye Jundong.
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Also present were Hu Xiaomeng as Deputy Head of Reference News Department, Wang Jianxin from the Foreign Affairs Bureau, Zhao Peng as Ren Weidong’s secretary, and Cao Kai and Ye Pingfan from Xinhua’s Jakarta bureau.
From the Mind of the People Group, the Director of PT Mind of the People Bandung Tia Yuniarti, the Director of the Mediapreneur Collaboration of the Mind of the People Media Network, Kartono Sarkim, and the Chief Editor of Mind of the People, Satrya Graha, were present.
Tia Yuniarti expressed her appreciation for the official visit of the Xinhua delegation to the Mind of the People office in Bandung.
“In this room regional heads, ministers and even the president have been present. This time representatives from China came directly,” said Tia.
Meanwhile, Kartono Sarkim assessed that this collaboration could enrich the variety of the People’s Thoughts’ reporting, both for digital platforms and print media.
“This is a valuable opportunity and it is hoped that the news from Xinhua can strengthen the treasures of literacy on online platforms and newspapers,” said Kartono.
Xinhua News itself is the official news agency of the Chinese Government which was founded in 1931. Currently Xinhua has a network of bureaus in around 200 countries with information services in 15 languages.
In his introduction, Ren revealed that the Xinhua bureau in Jakarta has now been upgraded to the status of a hub for the Asia Pacific region.
“We are increasing the status of the Jakarta bureau as a liaison bureau for the Asia Pacific region, on the same level as New York, Tokyo or Paris,” he said.
Apart from producing news for print media and magazines, Xinhua also strengthens digital transformation through the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
“Xinhua.net has now transformed by strengthening AI, the development of which is also witnessed by the United States,” said Ren.
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Ren also touched on China’s historical closeness to Asian-African countries, including the involvement of the Chinese delegation at the 1955 Asian-African Conference which was held in Bandung.
One of the figures from the Chinese delegation at that time, Lia Cheng Chi, is said to have had a relationship with Xinhua News and his name is now listed in one corner of the KAA Museum.
Closing his remarks, Ren hoped that cooperation between Xinhua and Mind of the People could develop quickly and have a positive impact on both countries.
“I hope that this collaboration can move rapidly like the Whoosh fast train,” he concluded.***
