Asia-Pacific media forum opens in Shenzhen ahead of APEC leaders' meeting

The Asia-Pacific Media Forum (APMF) opened in the tech hub of Shenzhen in south China on Saturday, bringing together more than 400 representatives from media, think tanks and government sectors across 42 countries and regions, as well as United Nations agencies and other international organizations.

The forum, a key part of the APEC "China Year" activities, comes just over two months before the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, which is also scheduled in Shenzhen.

The forum is themed "Building a Path to Shared Prosperity for the Asia-Pacific Community: Media Consensus and Action," with discussions centered on openness, innovation and cooperation.

In separate interviews with China Media Group, participants shared their expectations for the forum and their views on China's media and technological development.

"This forum provides us [with] an opportunity to share experiences, to share our knowledge, to share the policies of our media. We have agreements with CMG (China Media Group), we have agreement with CGTN (China Global Television Network). China has achieved excellence in media also, so they can also share their experience with the Asia-Pacific countries," said Aman ul Haq, international relations director of Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV).

"So if they can address to the people, then they can bring the people together. And if the people come together, I think that's much better in terms of creating friendship and relationship and it becomes a lasting one. So the forum can do a lot," said Imtiaz Ahmed, executive director of the Bangladesh-based think tank Center for Alternatives.

Ahead of the forum, participants toured several cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area city cluster, including Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Zhongshan, in south China.

A sci-tech innovation exhibition was also on display at the forum venue, where participants can gain a firsthand look at China's advanced technologies and spoke highly of the country's high-quality development achievements.

"The Russian National Media Group (NMG) is basically focused now on the well issue of AI cooperation. So we plan to have a representative office here in Shenzhen, and it is in Shenzhen because this is the technological capital of China," said Alexey Urazov, international cooperation director of Russia's NMG.

The forum was co-hosted by the Publicity Department of the Communist Part of China Central Committee, the Xinhua News Agency and the Guangdong provincial government, and organized by the Shenzhen municipal government.

At the opening ceremony, 16 founding organizations from China and abroad jointly formed the Organizing Committee of the Asia-Pacific Media Partnership Program.

Asia-Pacific media forum opens in Shenzhen ahead of APEC leaders' meeting

Japanese citizens gathered in Tokyo on Friday to protest against the government's attempt to breach the country's long-standing "Three Non-nuclear Principles," urging it to uphold its anti-nuclear commitment and oppose military expansion.

The protest came after Japanese media reported on Thursday that the government was considering explicitly including exceptions to the principles in its revised National Security Strategy, scheduled for the end of the year.

Japan's Three Non-Nuclear Principles stipulate that the country will not possess, produce, or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons. The current National Security Strategy, one of the country's three key security documents, explicitly states that Japan's basic policy of adhering to the principles will remain unchanged.

Protesters expressed concern that introducing exceptions would effectively undermine the principles and gradually weaken restrictions on nuclear weapons.

"Such a move is very machiavellian and disgraceful. I believe that under no circumstances should nuclear weapons be allowed into Japan. I also oppose incorporating such provisions as new clauses into the Three Non-nuclear Principles. Once this practice is accepted, the restrictions will gradually be loosened, eventually becoming uncontrollable," said a protester.

Other protesters said that the government's reported move to reconsider the non-nuclear principles is a deviation away from Japan's postwar pacifist commitment.

They also criticized the country's growing defense spending.

"Japan was defeated in the war and subsequently formulated the Constitution, which explicitly stipulates that Japan renounces the use of force. Japan thus became a country that will no longer wage a war. But now Japan's defense budget has increased by big margins every year, and there are moves to allow nuclear weapons into the country. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has even proposed reviewing the Three Non-nuclear Principles, a national policy that people across the country have upheld tighter all along. I find the current government's stance very disappointing," said another protester.

"Japan has always followed the Constitution of the country and formulated and adhered to the 'Three Non-Nuclear Principles' in accordance with it. But now the Takaichi administration is trying to breach this principle, and I oppose this. In the final analysis, I simply cannot feel at ease if Japan possesses nuclear weapons," said a protester.

Japanese rally against attempt to breach "Three Non-Nuclear Principles"