MONROVIA, Dec. 18 (LINA) – China’s influence in Liberia is growing by the day, and the need to ensure a robust media campaign to bring to the spotlight the numerous benefits being accrued as the result of the bilateral ties between Liberia and China cannot be overemphasize, Kwame O. Weeks, Director General of the Liberia News Agency (LINA), has said.
Weeks is proposing that media entities in the country focus their attention on developmental journalism and propagate messages that will entail image-building and as well highlight the good jobs being done by the government of the People’s Republic of China in Liberia.
The LINA Boss made the statement at a local hotel in Monrovia on Tuesday at a Seminar on the Teaching of Chinese Language and Culture organized by the Confucius Institute at the University of Liberia.
“The media and what China does must be compounded,” Weeks cited, emphasizing that the attention of the Liberian media has been shifted almost entirely to politics, thereby making it impossible for ordinary Liberians to clearly articulate the good work being done in Liberia by the Government of China.
The teaching of the Chinese language at the University of Liberia, Weeks said, is a manifestation that China is endeavoring to ensure that partner nations such as Liberia have the opportunity to fully benefit from the bilateral ties with China through the provision of job opportunities, trade and commerce and education, among others.
He believes that cultural diffusion as in the teaching of the Chinese language and culture by the Confucius Institute at the University of Liberia will enhance the bilateral relationship subsisting between China and Liberia, making it substantive and beneficial to the two nations.
Weeks then called on media practitioners and news outlets in the country to focus their attention on the good job and development that is being undertaken by the Government of China in Liberia so as to enhance and improve Liberia’s growth and development.
Established in December 2008 at the University of Liberia, the Confucius Institute has provided Chinese language and cultural education for more than 14,300 Liberians.
In 2019, a total of 1,910 students representing an increase of ten percent in enrolment from last year registered at the institution.
The institution is currently holding 76 classes with a total of 9,120 teaching hours and an additional six classes of Chinese courses being arranged to cater to 82 social students.
Under the guidance of the Chinese Embassy near Monrovia, the institution has organized 41 cultural activities in total, including the Spring Festival reception, the Lantern Festival Gala, “Chinese Bridge” competition, lecture on traditional Chinese medicine and the National Day Reception, with an audience of over 20,000 people.
