Wen Jiabao's 'Confidence Trip' (2)
China's Premier, Wen Jiabao, is in London. He is one of the world's most influential politicians. But we very rarely get the chance to interview him - or to find out much about his life beyond politics. Chinese politicians aren't in the habit of inviting lifestyle magazines into their homes.
Once a year, in March, Mr Wen gives a formal news conference at the annual session of China's parliament in Beijing. Occasionally, he grants interviews when he travels abroad (during his trip to Britain, he's given one). But apart from that, we have to watch him from afar.
So, if I ever got the chance to speak to the premier, there'd be plenty of serious policy questions to ask. (Some of your suggestions are in this previous post.)
But there are also some other things that I'd like to find out...
• There's a famous picture of you visiting the students in Tiananmen Square in 1989 before the army was sent in. Twenty years later, what do you think of that photo?
• How - if at all - do you plan to commemorate 4 June this year (the twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square shootings)?
• What are Politburo meetings like?
• You're a trained geologist. Do you ever miss studying rocks?
• Do you have your own e-mail address?
• Do you ever look at the page dedicated to you on Facebook?
• Do you watch TV? If so, what do you watch?
• What is your government salary?
• Your poetry has been published in Chinese newspapers. Do you plan to write any more poems?
I’m 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~45~RS~)
Comments
Sign in or register to comment.
lol!
"Do you have your own e-mail address?"
that Obama keep his Blackberry made you feel curious about that?
by the way,James,how did you know about that "famous pic"?even i dont that...
i guess that's because i was born in 1989 huh??:D
Complain about this comment
From your first two questions, it can show how little BBC journalist in China know about the country!
To be honest, if you visit oversea's Chinese internet forum, many people (I believe about 95%) agree that if those people obtained power that time, China would be far worse than Russia today and many other countries. China will not achieve what she has achieved so far.
You might not know either that the so called 6.4 elites are like "rats passing the street". Tell me what this mean? Test your Chinese knowledge.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
What about asking him how many people are in Chinese labour camps: more than one million?
Complain about this comment
Premier Wen does give interviews to foreign media if respect is shown. In fact he gave a very frank and humble interview to CNN (transcript can be found here: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/29/chinese.premier.transcript/index.html)
If you could show some willingness to listen and research the subject on both side of the story beforehand, I'm sure you would have gotten your wish.
Please try not to be pretentious, China is a much bigger place than just the Tibet and Tiananmen. There are real people and real issues besides the ideological war between communism and capitalism.
A few questions comes to mind for you to ask:
The passed 30 year the growth of the Chinese economy has been largely based on foreign investment and growth in export. In the next 30 years, what would be the driver of the Chinese economy growth?
China is the manufacture base for many if not most of the international household brands, but China has very few world famous brands to call its own. Why is that? Did China grow too fast too quickly?
Complain about this comment
I would ask him if he's read the letter from leading Chinese academics recommending dialogue with the Tibetan spritual leader.
Complain about this comment
Oh, boy,
I do not think you will never be granted an interview with Wen or Hu when they are still in power if you are serious about the first 2 questions. I suggest you prepare some smart questions about Zhao Ziyang as “part of your book research” if you may have a chance to sit down with Wen.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Mr. Wen is a trained geologist, and he worked 20 plus years surveying in Gan Su, one of China's poorest areas. Yet he rose to the power of the premier. Without a billion-dollar background, no American can be elected to the presidency today.
To be a top politician in the Western democracy, the most needed skill is talking; while to be a top position in China is hard working. That is why you always see him from far away. He is closer to his people, not to foreign journalists.
The 1989 student movement had nothing to do with democracy.
The fundamental reason for the 1989 student movement was the status of intellectuals in the society. In China, traditionally, intellectuals and scholars enjoyed being in the top social class and mostly admired for thousands of years. The communists however, were mostly peasants and workers, who are "un-educated". When the communists came to power, most of the government posts were taken by the "uneducated" lower class called "mud-legger". This was still true in the 1980s. (Nowadays, intellectuals are back to power again. Wen and Hu and most tops Chinese leaders are educated scientists or engineers…Confucius and all religions are coming back to dope the workers and peasants…)
In addition, when China opened up to market economy in 1978, the small businessmen got rich extremely fast, while intellectuals (teachers, professors, and professionals) were left behind, who still had "fixed" low pay from the government.
High inflation in 1988 and the re-merge of government official corruption made people angry.
Most Chinese, either oversea or in China, compare today’s China with eastern European countries and Russia and figured that China is way better off in its current form of government. Nobody is interested in commemorating that movement. It is those westerners that are commemorating that failed color-revolution. I cannot figure out why.
Complain about this comment
I believe what is bothering Mr Wen and the Chinese leadership is the economic crisis faced by everybody not only in other parts of the world, but also back home in China. How to resolve the unemployment problems faced by tens of thousands of migrant workers who are now idling in their rural hometowns, how to create jobs for the graduates whose nos are estimated to exceed 6 millions, how to spend the 4000 billion promised by the Government wisely to benefit the ordinary folks in the streets and not be misused by the corrupt officials on the ground.
Tibet problems and the Commemoration of Tiananmen Square incident in June are important but not as urgent as the economic ones which is a social time bomb, if not handle them carefully, it may threaten the survival of the Government.
Complain about this comment
First of all,I am sure that even if you have a chance to interview Mr.Wen,he will not answer the first two questions.
I'm 16 this year,and I live in Guangdong province.Actually, people in Guangdong can get more information than other provinces.But in my school,more than 95% students don't know what happend on June.4,1989.Other things like human rights and religion,we can get little information,too.And there is one thing that is important:many people don't care about it at all.Maybe they think these things are not their bussiness.What people care about now is the ecnomic downturn.
by the way,the eighth question is really interesting. i wanna know it ,too.
Complain about this comment
I would ask Mr. Wen if he is proud of being a leader of an authoritarian capitalistic party that has brought 1.5 billion people's living standard from starving to prosperous conditions just within 30 years. Has any other political or social systems accomplished this ever in the history? What is his opinion about the democratic, human-rights, capitalistic system that enriches a small group of corrupted and greedy rich who has enslaved the mankind? Where is the social justice?
Complain about this comment
I considerablly support 6.4 elites' orginal idea: however I hold the view that it wasn't
wise to protest in that way!
In the meantime, it's Chinese internal affairs which could never be intervened by you people!
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I would ask him his feelings about that shoe being thrown. Why aren't the Chinese media carrying this story yet even though they are reporting on the speech? It's almost as if the progaganda department must meet first to decide whether to let the people know about it. Perhaps then they can decide if it would harm the people to let them know how little respect China commands in the world, or whether they can turn it around into an anti-western story (look how they treat our leader) like they did with the Tibetan protests.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Gday James, I like your questions!!
Chinese politicians always seem so distant, almost inhumane. They all wear the same suit, speak with the same tone of voice, choose words from the same text book... meeting and shake hands with foreign politicians is all they seem to do. All except for Wen (and Jiang - who is simply bizzare). To me, he feels like a grandad, generally a really nice person who cared about people beyond the red walls.
I'd ask him about 64, why not? I'm sure he has a ready-made-CCP-approved-template in answer. Whatever that may be and (call me naive) I feel Wen is a sincere man, and certainly a good man. He (nor Hu) cannot change China on his own, but they can definitely make small changes for fruition in the years and years ahead... sorry for sounding preachy, I shall shut up.
PS: its [Personal details removed by Moderator]
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Surely the Union Flag on the desk is upside down?
Is this a covert distress signal?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7864260.stm
Complain about this comment
Hello to all fellow blog posters on here, both Chinese and non-Chinese. Let's get the debate back on before they close down the comments on this blog entry also. (Take a look at 'Serfs Emancipation Day' entry - dozens of rejected comments because the comments have supposedly 'closed' yet they haven't taken out the comment submission form - so you get like a weeks' worth of comments not getting through but still being submitted - two comments were submitted yesterday for example). Need to close down the submission form if the blog comments have really closed. Bit weird.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
The questions I would ask are:
-Is China still a Communist country? If so, what has happened to redistribution of wealth and state ownership of all of the means of production? If it is now capitalist, does that mean Communism is a flawed system?
-If the CCP is so beloved by the Chinese people, why not hold free and fair elections as soon as possible?
-Does the Chinese state harvest organs and body parts from those condemned?
-What is the problem with Falun Gong?
-Why can't Chinese citizens have full freedom of speech?
-If the majority of Tibetans peacefully and democratically asked to secede from greater China, would you allow them to do so? If not, why not?
-Where is the original Panchen Lama?
-Could something like the Cultural Revolution ever happen again?
-Were the events of June 4 in Tianamen Square, justified?
-What will happen to Hong Kong in 2046?
-What's your favourite wuxia film?
Complain about this comment
how's it feel to have a shoe thrown at you?
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
In 1999, the tenth anniversary of Tiananmen we were living in China. For several months before June 4, the square was barricaded off for 'upgrading'. What this was we have no idea as the square looked the same afterwards as it had done before the barricades went up. Will there be more upgrading necessary this year? Will the square again have to be cordoned off for weeks before June 4?
Complain about this comment
I would ask Wen if he noticed whether the shoe thrown at him is made in China.
If it is, we should say "thank you" to that despicable guy and tell him the best thing for a guy like him to do for Chinese people is to buy more Chinese made shoes.
Complain about this comment
I think the first question has already been asked on CNN last year. His response was interesting, I think he must have some very special feelings on that photo.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
James Reynolds:
In the questions that you are poising, you forgot...
1)What will Wen Jiabao going to be doing after his time as Chinese President following his time in the office....
~Dennis Junior~
Complain about this comment
James:
I have few other questions:
a)What are the government benefits of being an President of China....
**
About the poetry that you have written; Where is the URL or internet address to read the poems...
~Dennis Junior~
Complain about this comment
If I got a chance I will ask like this :
Heard that you got a New Name as Wen Jia Boot? Do you like it? why?
Complain about this comment
After watching TV and reading newspaper in the UK, I can sincerely say the western media is really hopeless.
About the shoes throwing to Wen, nearly all the media just report with title - "shoe thrown to Wen", but deliberately ignore the true scene: A lot of audiences shouted to the guy who interrupted the speech: shame on you, get out!"
The media also deliberately ignore the true scene: After the interruption, Wen carried on and said: "This disgraceful behaviour will not stop the friendship between Chinese and British people". The audience gave great applause lasting nearly 10 seconds.
This is a typical character of western media: only tell part of the story, the selective story!
Complain about this comment
I have no question to Mr Wen because he has become a starkly complice of the autocratic regime of China's communist party. He really deserves the shoe when he should have handed out money to his poor and fragile fellow citizens instead of one of the most wealthy nations.
What I want to ask is to, on the contrary, PM Gordon Brown. My question is that when an accidental fortune shed on your head as an exchange for your promise to be candid to the communist government, do you still hold you creed that is not only by words but by your action, I mean are you bold enough to support President Sarcozy by meeting Darlai Larma also?
Complain about this comment
From your question we can see how gossip your british are.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I personally find the comment on floor 38(. At 09:33am on 03 Feb 2009, manpet wrote:...) is interesting.
I would say not only BBC only tell part of the story, the selective story. Any media in this world does exactly the same thing, because people in different nations have their own interests. Unfortunately, medias are made by human being, being selective is the nature of human being.
Therefore, we will have to accept the fact, if we really care about truth, what we can do is to get information from more sources and then build one of your own truth(believe). More importantly, try not do care too much about what other human being believes.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Hi, James, I hope you can take a trip to China, talk with people all over the country, then you can get the answers you want.
I always think Westerns nevr know what Chinese is thinking, what Chinese is waiting for and what Chinese is thinking about Westerns, democracy and freedom.
Complain about this comment
All very good questions.
Love the last one. :)
Complain about this comment
James, come on. This post is empty flippancy. You are a BBC reporter and you are coming up with stupid questions about studying rocks and facebook pages. you are a representative of the world's most respected media organisation - give us some serious journalism, not this.
I am a Brit and have lived in China for a few years. I understand that it is easy to give in to "China fatigue" and come up with simple platitudes about what is happening here, but with some insight, one can see that in reality things are far more complex and defy generalisation. Your job as a reporter is to delve into that, not come up with these simplistic analyses. Do your profession some credit and give us some true journalism.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Premier Wen does not want to waste his time with China hater. That's why he rather spend his time delving into more pressing issues with Gordon Brown.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
View these comments in RSS