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China has not only canceled its participation in AdAsia 1995 but also withdrawn from its agreement to host the 1997 meeting.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