On Monday 11 February, Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) will be launching its new Chinese-language website www.rnw.nl/chinese in Amsterdam.
The site is aimed at Chinese people with a special interest in the Netherlands and provides Dutch news and background information. It is the first time RNW has targetted China. The site is designed to help promote press freedom and pluralism in China long-term.
There will be daily news reports from the Netherlands and a review of Dutch newspapers on the site. It will also include topical pieces where the Dutch view is of interest to China, for example, the environment, water management, health care and culture. Chinese people will gain information on the Netherlands and Dutch society.
Limits
The website will have to take some account of the limitations in China. RNW’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief, China expert Ardi Bouwers, explains:
“We’ve chosen a realistic approach without setting ourselves editorial limitations. Bearing in mind the very specific information contained on the site, we don’t expect to be blacked out by the Chinese government straightaway”.
However, the editorial team are not going to avoid politically sensitive issues.
“We intend to make use of what room we believe is available. If risky topics are considered to be within the scope of the site, we’ll publish.”
RNW has chosen an approach which looks to the future, and it will continue to analyse China’s media landscape and the state of press freedom into the years after the 2008 Olympic Games. “We hope the website will be a bridge for Chinese people on the lookout for information. We hope to extend what we do as soon as new possibilities open up,” says Ardi Bouwers.
Launch event
RNW is launching the site on 11 February at Amsterdam’s Pakhuis de Zwijger. Speakers at the launch event, whose theme is ‘China and the Internet: opportunities and limitations’, will include Xiaoying Zhang of Deutsche Welle, Jeroen de Kloet from the University of Amsterdam, and China and Internet expert Xiao Qiang, who is flying from the United States to attend.
(R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)
