Beijing's absence a blow to ad congress

Beijing's absence a blow to ad congress

By Lela E. Madjiah

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): China's absence from the 19th Asian
Advertising Congress has not affected the meeting but it is a
blow to the Asian Federation of Advertising Association (AFAA),
says AFAA chairman Yusca Ismail.

"As you can see, there are so many people here and hardly
anybody has noticed China's absence. However, we at AFAA are sad.
We are like a family and when one fails to show up for dinner
there is a feeling of loss," Yusca told The Jakarta Post
yesterday.

China has not only canceled its participation in AdAsia 1995
but also withdrawn from its agreement to host the 1997 meeting.

China's cancellation was attributed to Taiwan's presence at
the congress, which was at odds to the country's one-China
policy. But AFAA said that Taiwan's presence was beyond question
as Taiwan is a co-founder of AFAA. China joined the federation
later, in 1986.

At the last congress in Tokyo, China threatened to cancel its
participation but an agreement was reached under which Taiwan
used the name Taipei and Australia gave up its nomination as host
of the 1997 meeting.

Yusca stressed that China's decision not to attend this
meeting was not a boycott.

"They are not pulling out of AFAA. It's like they're saying
'Let's think it over.' But it does not mean China is angry at
AFAA or AFAA is angry with China." he said.

"That's why the message to my successor, whoever he or she
will be, is: Talk China back into joining the congress."

He said China's decision was both a loss to AFAA and to China
itself. For AFAA, China's absence was a missing communication
link, meaning the rest of Asia was denied an opportunity to be
updated on the progress of China's growth.

"It is also a loss to China, which needs to communicate with
other Asian countries to know what they are doing," said Yusca.

"At AFAA's meeting we discussed country reports, the progress
in each country's economy, its growth in various areas --
including advertising -- and both China and other AFAA members
need this," Yusca said.

China's withdrawal from its agreement to host the 1997
congress causes another problem for AFAA, which will now have to
find another host.

"But already we have two candidates: India and the
Philippines. Whichever of these fails to be nominated this time
will be renominated for the 1999 congress with another nominee,
Thailand," said Yusca.