Sri Lanka China Journalists Forum along with nearly a hundred media organizations around the globe joined the annual webinar of Belt and Road Journalists Forum held yesterday. The virtual forum was focused on impact of the covid-19 pandemic and responsible duty of journalists.
“Since the outbreak of COVID-19, countries around the world have looked out for each other to overcome the crisis, which is a testament to the community with a shared future for mankind. The media and journalists play an important role in coping with disasters and promoting the peaceful development of the humanity. To enhance exchanges and cooperation among journalist organizations and promote people-to-people connectivity of all countries, members and partners of the Belt and Road Journalists Network,” the joint statement of the forum has noted.
President of SLCJF Mr Nalin Aponso made the following remarks during the forum;
We are going through an era in which it is more difficult to transmit truthful information to people than ever before. This is why some call this era the post-truth era. The difficulty of transmitting true information in society has led to many predicaments. Some powerful media outlets run by the Western market, transmit distorted messages throughout society for their narrow ends. The political impact of social media networks has turned the intolerable level. The impact on fundamental human rights in this situation is not insignificant.
However, the plague of Covid 19 taught many new lessons to human civilization. The best we can do for the people who have fallen ill and died as a result of this pandemic is to use the lessons taught by this pandemic for the betterment of humanity and planet earth. One of the most important lessons the Covid 19 plague taught the world was the importance of solidarity. Working together in the face of global crises can minimize the potential impact of such crises.
More importantly, how to transmit truth information in society is continued to be the main challenge. In the past, false information about China and its real development has been transmitted for various purposes by deceiving many communities. But China did not give up. China worked for the people of her country as well as for the betterment of the whole world. China was able to solve almost all the challenges faced following diplomatic principles and values. As I have always said, China has built not the walls to separate human communities but bridges for global connectivity and solidarity. As a result, people who were tired of the violence posed by various powerful countries started following Chinese ways of solving the global crisis. Those countries were joined hand with China for lasting peace and development.
The Sri Lanka China Journalists Forum is an independent organization that understands this basic reality and strives peacefully to spread the truthful information. Our primary objective is to convey the importance of the centuries-old diplomatic relationship between the two countries to every community in the society.
Needless to say, the Belt and Road initiative is a very important opportunity for the whole world. The basic lesson teaches us that we can overcome the challenges we face by developing cooperation with each other and increasing solidarity. There, everyone receives equal recognition and respect. We must all work to spread this important message everywhere in the world. It is more important to live by recognizing and respecting the rights of oneself and one’s neighbours than to show the power of weapons and usurp the rights of others. In other words, Belt and Road Initiative is a call of duty of truth loving people.
