New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (2nd L) and Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wu Xi (2nd R) attend a Chinese New Year celebration held at New Zealand Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, Feb. 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)
Many New Zealanders know little about China, and “mutual understanding is even more challenging in an era in which people receive news from fewer reputable sources and fake news populate the news feeds,” said Dave Bromwich, president of the New Zealand China Friendship Society.
A New Zealand scholar has called on the public to learn more and better about China from “reputable sources” instead of groundless allegations based on manufactured information.
Dave Bromwich, president of the New Zealand China Friendship Society (NZCFS), made the remarks on Sunday during the organization’s annual conference in the northern country town of Havelock North.
He suggested the New Zealand’s public show respect and openness and hear China’s voice. “Without that, we cannot have the full understanding of what China is,” he said.
Bromwich said many New Zealanders know little about China, and “mutual understanding is even more challenging in an era in which people receive news from fewer reputable sources and fake news populate the news feeds.”
For example, many reports of Western media over the human rights situation in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are based on manufactured evidence, Bromwich said.
“The failure of the Western media will validate the stance they take,” he added.
In his view, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the increase of false news and information. “The narrative presented in Western media is based on allegation that is unsubstantiated by facts. The approach is to manufacture evidence on non-credible research, and then it becomes ‘a body of evidence,'” he noted.
Under that circumstances, Bromwich urged the people to “go back to the basis of fact rather than the allegation based on negative and manufactured evidence.”
The NZCFS has been working for decades to establish a sincere relationship with China and promote mutual understanding and friendship between people of the two countries. (Xinhua)
