Cambodian television stations may soon have access to news footage from China’s government-run China Central Television.
The offer was made to Minister of Information Lu Laysreng during talks this week with members of a Chinese government delegation. Zhang Xin, an official at CCTV’s international relations department, said the television station would be willing to sign an authorization agreement giving Cambodian stations, such as government-owned TVK, the rights to use CCTV’s news reports.
Lu Laysreng said he would wait for an official invitation before responding. “The outcome is not yet clear,” he said.
Lu Laysreng told the delegation that the Cambodian government has a memorandum of understanding to exchange news between China’s state-run Xinhua news service and the Ministry of Information’s Agence Kampuchea Presse.
The 15-member delegation included officials from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Asian Department, trade and agriculture officials, and officials who oversee China’s state-run media.
They arrived Monday for a three-day official visit sponsored by the Asean-China Joint Cooperation Committee. The meeting at the Ministry of Information was to learn more about Cambodia’s television, radio and print media, Chinese officials said.
The delegation also met with officials in the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Finance. They left Wednesday to visit Laos, Thailand and Burma.
The delegation is the latest in a wave of official visits between China and Cambodia. Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Nov 2000 and Li Peng, China’s former premier who now heads the National People’s Congress, came last May.
The secretary-general of China’s State Council is scheduled to arrive this week for an official visit, according to Xinhua. Wang Zhingyu is now in Burma and will also visit the Philippines.
