Zhang Mingxin, dean of the School of Journalism and Information Communication at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, talked about approaches to promote China's technological image in the broadcasting of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games during his attendance at the first session of the 2021 sci-tech communication salon on August 16.
The event was held online by the National Communication Center for Science and Technology affiliated to the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University.
Zhang said the Olympic Games often exerts great influence upon the national image of host countries and puts them under the global spotlight. He responded to the sudden rise of host countries' exposure to global media with caution, since it will not automatically translate into positive perceptions held by people from other nations toward them.
Zhang said China's technological image has received wide attention and recognition from the audiences worldwide. For instance, a study conducted by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies in China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration shows that nearly 90 percent of respondents from 20 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have rated China positively concerning its technological development, a higher percentage than all other aspects of its national image.
Compared with China's culture and social values, it is easier for its technology to strike a chord among people from other countries. However, there are people who have held negative perceptions of China’s scientific and technological development.
Therefore, Zhang suggested that China should leverage the strength of its communication and the building of its technological image to relieve the concerns of other countries toward the so-called “Chinese technological threat” as the host of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
He said China's scientific and technological achievements belong to the entire world. A report on China’s scientific and technological progress should stress its cooperation and people-to-people exchanges with other countries, especially BRI nations.
There is still a large gap between China and countries like the US in terms of its research atmosphere and institutional arrangements, and there is a long way to go for China to make breakthroughs in the research of major and core science and technology, though it has made noticeable progress in the sector in recent years. Therefore, coverage of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games should focus on presenting China’s innovative and intelligent approach to technology.
Zhang said coverage of popular science should focus on how to better explain how China has made progress in science and technology. The concept equally applies to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, which involves the explanations of tangible changes brought by science to the daily lives of human beings.
China should use the 2022 Olympic Winter Games to present its efforts to improve the well-being of its people, the research and development of COVID-19 vaccines and pharmacies, the progress of disease diagnosis, and origin-tracing and prevention & control of COVID-19.
Zhang stressed that China should make an overall and multi-dimensional plan for its communication strategy in order to tell China’s “technology story” to foreign audiences and win their attention.
