Belt and Road Initiative: A Call of our duty
We are going through an era in which it is more difficult to transmit truthful information to people than ever before. This is why some call this era the post-truth era. The difficulty of transmitting true information in society has led to many predicaments. Some powerful media outlets run by the Western market, transmit distorted messages throughout society for their narrow ends. The political impact of social media networks has turned the intolerable level. The impact on fundamental human rights in this situation is not insignificant.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic taught many new lessons to human civilization. The best we can do for the people who have fallen ill and died as a result of this pandemic is to use the lessons taught by this pandemic for the betterment of humanity and planet earth. One of the most important lessons the Covid 19 plague taught the world was the importance of solidarity. Working together in the face of global crises can minimize the potential impact of such crises.
More importantly, how to transmit truth information in society is continued to be the main challenge. The Sri Lanka China Journalists Forum is an organization that understands this basic reality and strives peacefully to spread the truthful information. Our primary objective is to convey the importance of the centuries-old diplomatic relationship between the two countries to every community in the society.
Needless to say, the Belt and Road initiative is a very important opportunity for the whole world. The basic lesson teaches us that we can overcome the challenges we face by developing cooperation with each other and increasing solidarity. There, everyone receives equal recognition and respect. We must all work to spread this important message everywhere in the world. It is more important to live by recognizing and respecting the rights of oneself and one’s neighbours than to show the power of weapons and usurp the rights of others. In other words, Belt and Road Initiative is a call of duty of truth loving people.
(Speech by Nalin Aponso, President of The Sri Lanka China Journalist Forum, from the 2020 Belt & Road Journalists Forum themed Journalism Exchange and Cooperation in the Post Covid-19 Era)