Media Should Play Positive Role In South China Sea Dispute

By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 (Bernama) -- Media around the world should play a healthy role to end the South China Sea dispute so as to avoid a tense environment in the region, said Vietnam's Communist Review Deputy Editor-in-Chief Assoc Prof Dr Vu Van Ha. "I think that it should be the mission of every media agencies all over the world, especilaly in ASEAN to create a peaceful environment for the development of the South China Sea issue," Vu said during his visit to the Malaysian National News Agency's (Bernama) headquarters here Monday. He said that in this matter, Bernama and the Communist Review, the official media for the Vietnamese ruling party, the Communist Party of Vietnam, could play an active role to avoid any misunderstandings between the people of the two countries. The South China Sea disputes involve both island and maritime claims among several countries within the region namely Brunei, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. China has the largest claims in the area, through which about US$5 trillion worth of trade passes each year. Touching on his visit to Bernama, Vu who led a four-member delegation from the Communist Review, said that there was great potential for cooperation between the two organisations due to their similarities. He added that this could be done through exchange of news, which would enable the people of both countries to learn more about the current economic and political developments in each other's country. Vu and his delegation were also briefed by Bernama's Editor-in-Chief Zakaria Abdul Wahab on the organisation's operations, and products and services. Also present at the briefing were Bernama's Deputy Editor-in-Chief (Domestic News Service) Mokhtar Hussain, Deputy-Editor-in-Chief (Economic News Service) Mikhail Raj Abdullah and Deputy-Editor-in-Chief (International News Service) Ahmad Zukiman Mohd Zain. Vu also briefed Bernama on the Communist Review's five publications, including its website, www.tapchicongsan.org.vn/ which is available in four languages namely Vietnamese, English, Laos and Mandarin. He said that the Communist Review, a theoretical and political agency of the Communist Party of Vietnam, was established in 1930 to among others disseminate the government's policy to the public. --BERNAMA