The Belt and Road story: Achievements and responsibilities
- By Wang Xiaohui
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E-mail China.org.cn, May 12, 2017
3. What are the challenges confronting the Belt and Road Initiative?
During the last three years, the Initiative has drawn great responses from international society and gained abundant initial achievements. However, just like all the great causes in human history, this Initiative cannot avoid being confronted with difficulties and challenges in progressing to full implementation. It is even harder than Zhang Qian's journey to the Western Regions through the ancient Silk Road in the Han dynasty and Zheng He's voyage through the western seas in the Ming dynasty ((1368–1644).
Geopolitical liabilities shadowing some countries along the route have resulted in political instability and unsustainable policy moves. Imbalanced economic development levels add to the difficulty of creating an open market. Differences in political system, national language and cultural tradition have led to national relationships being complicated by ethnic tensions, religion conflicts and differences in thought. In addition, a few countries have voiced their suspicions, misunderstanding or even hostile towards China and the Belt and Road Initiative, fueling the theory of the "China Threat," "China Environment Threat" or "China Energy Threat." These risks and challenges have to be faced and overcome by China and all the participants of the Initiative. As a media practitioner myself, I'd like to talk about how to tell stories of the Belt and Road and contribute to the successful implementation of the Initiative.
Telling the Belt and Road story based on facts
Telling stories of the Belt and Road Initiative well does not mean making up stories, which is why sticking to the facts should be the rule. When promoting and reporting the Initiative, we should talk about the bright prospects together with the obstacles lurking along the way, the benefits for the world as well as acknowledging the perks for China. Some reports depict the Initiative as a development opportunity only for China and the Belt and Road as China's exclusive economic zone. Others merely focus on the Initiative's contribution to the world, as if it is a Good Samaritan project catering to international society. Neither of the two communication strategies is appropriate and stories along these lines will never be well received.
Telling the Belt and Road story with good materials
China is known for its long history, rich cultural heritage, vast territory and diverse ethnic groups. Economic achievements over the last four decades have also pushed China into the spotlight. China is never short of good stories, but telling them well, especially those of the Belt and Road Initiative, require respect for the rules of communication and good choice of reporting materials. Stories of the trade and culture communication between China and countries along the Belt and Road, the dissemination of Buddhism along the route, the deep friendship between China's medical aid teams in Africa and local people, as well as foreign students starting business in China, are all good materials for reports on China and the Belt and Road.
Telling the Belt and Road story in a target language
There are more than 60 countries with over 4 billion people and 54 official languages along the Belt and Road. Hence, language plays an important role in telling complete, accurate and vivid stories of the Initiative to a target audience. Institutions specialized in translation, such as the CIPG, Central Compilation and Translation Bureau and foreign language universities, should take the lead. The CIPG and the China Academy of Translation have organized the translation of a series of books explaining keywords used in China's advancement into various foreign languages and introduced China's concepts of development, politics and culture to overseas audience through the translation and interpretation of various words and phrases.
Telling the Belt and Road story in innovative forms
Traditional channels of communication including books, newspapers, radio and TV broadcasting are still relevant, but in a world where the Internet and new media are playing an increasingly crucial role, we should pay special attention to new media-centered Internet communication to tell China's story.
Tailored contents, such as short video programs of less than three minutes featuring cultural elements of countries along the Belt and Road, are needed to make the best use of overseas social media platforms. China.org.cn already has much influence on foreign users, with over 20 million followers on Facebook, almost 100 million page views per month and a 14.75 percent interaction rate. Recently, China.org.cn has opened Belt&Road themed accounts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter, the four mainstream social media, in order to strengthen the understanding of the Initiative among countries along the Belt and Road.
The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is set to commence on May 14, when the world will again focus its attention on Beijing.
Wang Xiaohui is editor-in-chief of China.org.cn.
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