BRI friends: Chinese, Nepalese media professionals help each other

Kishor Shrestha is chairman of the Nepal-China Media Forum and editor-in-chief of the Jana Aastha National Weekly. Having been engaged in journalism for 36 years, he has visited China 63 times, reaching most areas of the country.

Kishor Shrestha (R) and Hou Zhihong talk in the office.

In 2020, Kishor Shrestha got to know Hou Zhihong, president of South Asia Network TV Media Group based in Nepal (SATV), through a friend. Because of their shared love to the media industry, they felt like old friends at the first meeting. Native to northwest China’s Gansu province, Hou Zhihong is generous by nature.

During Hou’s stay in Nepal, the two occasionally chatted late at night. "We treated each other with sincerity. Although the language barriers are there, we can still understand each other through eye contacts or gestures," said Kishor Shrestha with a smile, adding they usually use WeChat and translation apps to talk.

Kishor’s new book: Xi Jinping through Nepalese Eyes

In April this year, Hou invited Kishor to a study tour in Nanliang, a revolutionary base in Gansu’s Qingyang city. Together, they visited the cave dwellings on the Loess Plateau, learning about the CPC revolutionary activities there in the 1930s and 1940s. The tour contributed a lot to Kishor’s new book: Xi Jinping through Nepalese Eyes.

After the book was published, Hou specially wrote the following words on it: "For me, Mr. Kishor Shrestha is both a close friend and a dear colleague. Kishor deeply loves his motherland and he is very friendly to China, making him a good friend of the Chinese people."

The Asian Professional Achievement Award Nepal 2023 ceremony. Photo courtesy: SATV

In Hou's eyes, Kishor is thoughtful, insightful and objective, having an acute sense of justice and a clear distinction between love and hate. "He has visited more places than me," noted Hou.

When it came to their cross-border friendship, Kishor would say: "Our friendship is based on mutual appreciation. Although there are differences in Chinese and Nepalese cultures, we share the common language in journalism, and decades of journalistic experiences have also given us a tacit understanding."

Hou Zhihong disclosed that it was difficult to start a media business in Nepal at first because of procedures for approval and he does not speak Nepalese. “Thanks to Kishor's help and advice, I finally founded the SATV," said Hou.

Hou Zhihong (R,1st) is awared at the Asian Professional Achievement Award Nepal 2023 ceremony. Photo courtesy: SATV

On October 13, the Asian Professional Achievement Award Nepal 2023 ceremony was held grandly at the Himalaya Hotel in Kathmandu, and Hou won the title of “best media professional”.

At the event, Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda presented awards to more than 30 professionals from different sectors of Asian countries, lauding their outstanding contributions in Asia.

"In the past three years, SATV has focused on China-Nepal exchanges under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), publishing quite a few friendly stories of bilateral cooperation in culture, tourism and others. These stories are inseparable from the guidance and support of my bosom friend Kishor Shrestha,” Hou said.

Reporting by Guo Yao (Yunnan Daily); Trans-editing by Wang Shixue