Tazeen Akhtar / Islamabad
Why Pakistan China friendship and CPEC could not get proper and positive attention and acceptance in the people of Pakistan ? The reason is one and only , the sides are not taking private media seriously and prefering state media only that do not have trust and popularity in most of the countries in the world. Another reason is , the Chinese side remained very selective on a few private media orgs in last 15 cruicial years of CPEC.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar is in Beijing to see the media connectivity and met with Cao Shumin, Deputy Head of the CPC Publicity Department and Minister of National Radio and Television Administration of China (NRTA) China, to explore broadening cooperation through joint productions, combating disinformation, launching training initiatives, and fostering cultural exchange.
He discussed cooperation between state media only and did not mentioned the private media that have more public outreach than state media of Pakistan. At the side of China, the concerned persons in the Embassy of China have built relationships only with few favorit media persons and they do not bother to diversify their media cooperation with other organizations.
The media officers at China Embassy Islamabad had agreements with few Pakistani orgs that failed to implement what was agreed upon. There were many violations of the agreements and the funds distributed among the favorit orgs failed to fetch the required results in terms of circulation of Chinese material in their newspapers and publishing the number of copies that was promised.
This is commonly known in the journalist circles of Islamabad and no one can deny it. Yes ! the jounalists can avoid commenting upon the issue but they will never say that the favorit orgs fulfilled promises or implemented the agreements in full spirit.
Another sign of mismanagement or favritism at the Chinese side is , the same org is selected again and again for media tours to China. There are confirm examples that father, sons, brothers in the same media orgs have been sent to China again and again. The selectors did not made it across the board and remain limited to few organizations only.
In the meeting of Pakistani and Chinese media heads , as shared by the information ministry of Pakistan, both leaders characterized the media partnership as a testament to mutual trust and a deep-rooted friendship. the sides also endorsed a unified stance against fake news, along with plans for technical training and institutional collaboration.
Speaking on the occasion, Attaullah Tarar stated that Pakistan has much to learn from China’s experience in media and communication. He praised China’s expertise in digital media, public service broadcasting, and cultural content promotion as truly commendable.
Pakistan and China have agreed to expand cooperation and joint broadcasting projects between their state media organizations. This initiative aims to more effectively counter fake news and disinformation.
Discussions during the meeting also touched on facilitating exchange visits of digital influencers from Pakistan and China to strengthen cultural ties and mutual engagement.
Attaullah Tarar stated that under the agreement, both institutions will enhance cooperation in news coverage, documentary production, training resources, and technical support. Minister noted that during the recent tensions between Pakistan and India, youth from China and Pakistan demonstrated strong solidarity, a sentiment that gained widespread attention across social media platforms.
Attaullah Tarar remarked that in today’s digital age, the exchange of influencers and social media representatives from both countries can bring renewed vitality to bilateral relations.
He affirmed Pakistan’s commitment to turning mutual media cooperation into concrete actions.
Ms Cao Shumin highlighted China’s recognition of Pakistan as a trusted partner, noting that media organizations from both nations can deepen their collaboration by sharing experiences. She further emphasized that greater cooperation in media and technology will be mutually advantageous.
Discussions during the meeting also focused on shaping a joint narrative around civilizational exchange and innovation between Pakistan and China. Both sides agreed that media, culture, and public relations hold the potential to deepen the bilateral relationship, with future efforts to be advanced through a coordinated strategy.
Mr. Tarar has assumed the charge of the ministry only in 2024 after the formation of the gov of PMLN. He had not run any ministry previously. He needs to bring merit first , and minimise his reliance on state media only. He brought his favorit journalists from Lahore and appointed them at PTV to enhance the viewership but failed.
A large section of Pakistani media is not happy with Ministry of Information of Pakistan and limited relations of Chienese media officers with independent media of Pakistan. This is bringing negative results for both sides and the importance of CPEC is being affected due to the policies at both sides. The sides are supposed to review the policies in this regard.
