UN Chief Ban Ki-moon tries public diplomacy on Weibo

By Yang Chu

United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon interacted with Chinese microbloggers in a brief live chat session on Sina Weibo Tuesday, kicking off his visit to China where he plans to attend the China-Africa Cooperation Forum Ministerial Conference in Beijing on July 19-20.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (R) and moderator Yang Lan prepare for a live interactive chat session in Beijing on Tuesday with micro-bloggers. Th e UN chief is on a three-day visit to China. [Photo/China Daily]

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon started his three-day visit to China by talking with Chinese micro blog users in a live interactive chat session on Tuesday.

The UN chief’s Weibo appearance marks the first time a foreign government leader or international organization head has appeared live on the immensely popular website, which boasts 300 million registered users. Chinese Weibo users submitted over ten thousand questions to the UN chief. The UN’s Sina Weibo page is currently followed by more than 3 million Chinese users.

Regarding the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, Ban said, “China, as the second largest economy, has achieved significantly in both economic and social development. People in Africa also pay attention to China’s achievements.”

Since 2006, when the first China-Africa Cooperation Forum was successfully hosted in Beijing, Africa saw an extended period of economic growth. At the end of last year, The Economist concluded that a previously “incurable Africa” has been rising, and the engine for that growth is “Chinese opportunity” and “Chinese investment”.