The second International Media Conference opened Monday morning at the University of Hong Kong with more than 300 journalists from the Asia Pacific and the US in attendance.
The conference agenda includes speakers from publications in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Myanmar, as well as international media such as The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and the BBC. Business and political luminaries will also present at the conference.
Panels at the three-day conference will discuss journalistic topics such as press freedom and new media, but also major global issues such as developing country economics, democracy in Asia, North Korea’s nuclear programme, and “Asia’s environmental dilemma.”
ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan will give a lunch keynote today.
In opening remarks, Director of the Hong Kong University Journalism and Media Studies Centre Professor Ying Yuen Chan, emphasized that Hong Kong’s media remained free and vibrant since the handover to China handover in 1997. Under the “one country, two systems” model, Chinese state media control and the Great Firewall stop at the border of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, she said.
“Hong Kong is the best location in terms of understanding China, in terms of serving as a bridge. Exciting things are happening in journalism in China, and you will hear about them in this conference,” she said.
The conference video is being video streamed live here and can be followed on Twitter under #imchk.
