People to people exchange has become a bright spot in and an important part of the friendly cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, said Korn Dabbaransi, former deputy prime minister of Thailand and chairman of the Thailand-China Friendship Association.

On 18 August 2016, The ASEAN Committee in Oslo, ACO, jointly organized the event “ASEAN Cultural Night 2016” at Gamle Logan, Oslo. The purpose of the event was to promote and raise awareness about the ASEAN Community as well as each member country to those invited guests representing various sectors in Norway as well as diplomatic corps.

In the letter, Li said people-to-people exchanges, including education exchanges, are emerging as a new pillar in China-ASEAN relations and showing broad prospects. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the China-ASEAN relationship. Li said China and ASEAN are good neighbors and partners, and communicate and cooperate in various fields.

Last week, days after The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration awarded the Philippines a victory in its case against China in the dispute over rights to the South China Sea, Beijing began a massive public relations campaign to press its position. Part of China’s campaign includes shoring up international support to denounce the ruling and approaching other nations to voice their backing for Beijing.

The Asean nations are characterised by an immense diversity and richness of languages and cultural traditions. In addition to their unique official languages and scripts, and now their common use of English, many hundreds of ethnic languages are spoken across the 10 countries. In the Philippines, and most recently in Myanmar, a mature and progressive attitude of balanced multilingualism is being felt in policy.

ASEAN-Korea Tourism Development Workshop, the venue gathered over 100 representatives from the government, private sector and academia to discuss recent trends and possibilities in the industry. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is promoting a form of tourism environmentally nondestructive, socially responsible and commercially sustainable. 

The focus this year has been selected with the theme of "ASEAN-China education exchange year", Derry added. As such, he said, there will be more efforts to increase cooperation in the education sector, people-to-people exchanges and promoting awareness between the two peoples. 

According to Parni, civic diplomacy involves “people to people” contact through all means, involving social media and conventional media ( press diplomacy ) with particular emphases on social ( humanitarian ) and concrete cultural activities.