A Chinese cultural official suggested Thursday that a special organ be established under the Asia-Europe Foundation to tackle technical issues arising from the cultural and information exchanges and cooperation between Asian and European nations.

Hong Yongping, deputy director of the policies and regulations department of China's culture ministry, said at a two-day Asia-Europe Conference on Cultures and Civilizations that smooth exchanges and cooperation between countries entails not only initiations from governments but technical support.

He hoped that the Asia-Europe Foundation, the only standing institution of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), will set up a special organ so as to solve technical issues like how to organize and cover expenses of negotiations and how to implement results of the negotiations.

Hong said cultural exchanges should be carried out both among governments and unofficially. "Full understanding of other cultures will help us find the things we share and thus expand our cooperation fields."

He believed that compared with bilateral exchanges, multilateral activities provide an even larger platform for nations to communicate.

"Through multilateral cooperation and exchanges, the countries can work together for policies and methods of protecting cultural heritage," said Hong. "By doing so, we can not only better preserve our own heritage, but learn more about what other countries are doing in this sphere. Cultural diversity can then be protected and unity be found."

Hong also suggested that a mechanism be established to solve the problem of information security in cultural exchanges.
 
(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2003)