Mr Tong Defa, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, has appealed to the Ghanaian media to be circumspect in their reportage about the Chinese community and not generalise them as unlawful citizens.
He noted that although individual Chinese nationals may commit certain offences, as is typical in every population, most of them were law abiding, therefore, it was unfair to stereotype Chinese nationals as unlawful.
Mr Tong said this when he paid a courtesy call on the General Manager of the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, in Accra, on Wednesday.
“I have engaged the Chinese community since I came, and they have told me how much they cherish the hospitability of Ghanaians and have expressed their commitment to contribute their quota to Ghana’s growth,” Ambassador Tong said.
Stereotyping the entire Chinese population, he said, could endanger the lives of law-abiding Chinese.
He explained: “Like the other day, there was a local news report, announcing an incident involving the construction of a road.
There was the use of explosives, and some people got injured. Incidentally some Chinese were seen around the site.
Some local people who saw them concluded that the project was being undertaken by a Chinese company.
“So, some other Chinese went to buy food and got their cell phones got stolen. Luckily, the police intervention revealed that it was not a Chinese company as the media report had claimed”.
The call was part of efforts to strengthen bilateral relations between Ghana and China through media partnership and cooperation.
Ambassador Tong said most Chinese in Ghana were desirous of contributing to the economic development of the country through creation of jobs and CSR projects.
“We have a lot of Chinese and Chinese communities who are doing quite well here.”
It would be important for the media to engage them on their productive activities to tell the balanced story of the Chinese community.
He lauded Ghana’s relations with China, which he said had been elevated to strategic partnership.
“This means a lot in terms of our cooperation in the mutual interest of our government and our peoples.”
He recalled President Akufo-Addo’s visit to China to participate in the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in September.
President Akufo-Addo and President Xi Jinping jointly announced the elevation of the bilateral relations to a strategic partnership, pledging to grow the friendship forged by their forebears more than 60 years ago to enhance political mutual trust, promote exchanges and cooperation in various fields and be good partners for the common development of their countries.
Ambassador Tong said it was important for the media in both countries to appreciate that relationship and tell stories that would promote better understanding and sustainable development.
He also urged the Chinese community in Ghana to continue to respect their host to ensure harmony and peaceful collaboration.
Ambassador Tong commended the GNA for maintaining professional standards, saying it had been a credible source of information on Ghana.
Mr Owusu, for his part, spoke about the GNA’s commitment to pursue its mandate of telling the stories of Ghana and its partners in a professional and manner to boost their ties.
He was, therefore, happy about the relationship between the Agency and its media partners in China and also the Embassy.
“GNA is a state-owned media organisation and ours is to promote the bilateral relations between Ghana and other countries such as yours (China). As your government and our government work together for the interest of our people, we are also here to promote the partnership,” he said.
Mr Owusu also appealed for training support for staff of the Agency to enable them to effectively deliver on their mandates.
He welcomed training opportunities to build the capacities of the editorial and technical staff to empower them to utilise modern technologies in news gathering and processing.
Present at the meeting were Mrs Beatrice Asamani-Savage, Director, Editorial, Mr Norbert Asenso, Director, Business Development, Mr George-Ramsey Benamba, Head of Home Desk, and Mr Felix Attukwei Quaye, Acting Head of IT at the GNA.
Ambassador Tong who arrived in Ghana last August for his duty tour was accompanied to the GNA by officials from the embassy.
