Cultural proximity strengthens Indonesia-China relations

Highlighting and promoting the cultural similarity and proximity, especially among young people, can strengthen relations, which have been existing for many years, between ASEAN countries, especially Indonesia and China.

At a round table seminar on China and ASEAN Relations here on Friday, Prita Kemal Gani, Director of the London School of Public Relations (LSPR), explained that the younger generation, who now increasingly dominate the population of Indonesia, have wide access to information from various sources.

"The journalists should work together with Public Relations professionals as it can help bring the media closer to the people," she said.

In addition, Prita said that the Public Relations professionals provide stories and narratives about the cultural similarity and closeness of the Indonesians and the Chinese.

"The people of Indonesia are familiar with the saying if you do not know, then do not love. We can apply this adage in strengthening the relations between Indonesia and China in the form of information, especially from the youth," Prita said.

For example, the story of the young President Joko Widodo, who loves cycling, can be attributed to the habits of the Chinese people who love cycling too, she added.

According to Prita, stories like this can strengthen the relationship between the two countries. Moreover, the narrative about badminton popularity among the Indonesia and China youth can also be promoted by the mass media in order to improve the relations between the two countries.

"The story of Indonesian and Chinese Muslims, whose numbers keeps growing, can also be explored deeper and reported with a hope that the closeness and love between the two sides will be increased," Prita noted.

The round table seminar was organized by the Mission of Peoples Republic of China to ASEAN and was attended by the Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN, Xu Bu, and the Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN, AKP Mochtan.

Source: ANTARA