PM Wen urges leniency for Cambridge shoe thrower

BEIJING- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has urged leniency for a German student who lobbed a shoe at him during a speech at Cambridge University, the Foreign Ministry said.

The shoe-throwing interrupted a speech Wen gave on Feb 2 on the last day of a tour of Europe, echoing the hurling of shoes by an Iraqi journalist at U.S. President George W. Bush on his farewell visit to Iraq in December.

Martin Jahnke, 27, will appear before magistrates in Cambridge this week.

"Education is best for a young student, and I hope he will have the opportunity to continue his education. The return of a prodigal is worth more than gold," said the message from Wen, posted on the Foreign Ministry website over the weekend.

"I hope the student recognises his mistake and uses his developing eyesight to recognise the real China."

The gesture "aroused the strong indignation of the audience and the entire Chinese people, and hurt the image and reputation of Cambridge in China," read the message, which was conveyed through Fu Ying, the Chinese ambassador to Britain.

"We note that the student has openly apologised, Cambridge also quickly made its position known and will deal with the situation seriously... The student's actions show that he lacks even basic understanding of China."

China had originally condemned the protest as "despicable."

Its state-controlled media had originally referred only to an unidentified "interruption" of Wen's speech, but later relaxed and showed the full incident on the evening news.

Jahnke blew a whistle and yelled "How can the university prostitute itself with this dictator?" before hurling a black shoe towards the stage.

Wen paused as the shoe landed far wide of him and then continued his speech, ad-libbing that it would not affect China-U.K. relations.

(Reuters)

Brown regrets shoe-throwing incident

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has expressed "regret" over the shoe-throwing incident that interrupted Premier Wen Jiabao's speech at Cambridge University on Monday, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

In a letter to Wen on Wednesday, Brown said it was "a matter of regret" that his speech was disrupted, ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

According to Jiang, Brown said "Wen's speech at Cambridge was widely welcomed and very impressive". Highlighting the importance of Sino-British ties, Brown said "important results" had been achieved during Wen's visit to Europe.

Cambridge University Vice-Chancellor Allison Richard has "sincerely apologized" for the unhappy episode, Jiang said. "Richard said Cambridge is strongly opposed violence, which is against its values."

The protester who threw the shoe at Wen has been charged "with a public order offence", a police spokeswoman said on Tuesday. "The 27-year-old man has been charged with Section 4 of the Public Order Act and will appear in Cambridge magistrates court on February 10."

A spokesman for the university said yesterday that Wen's speech drew "tremendous applause" despite the man's "stupid action".

EU ambassador to China Serge Abou, who accompanied Wen on his EU tour, said the visit was very successful and had strengthened Sino-EU strategic partnership.

Abou was speaking at a press conference held to felicitate the China European International Business School after the Financial Times ranked it No 8 in its annual MBA programs list.

During Wen's visit, China signed 38 contracts worth 15 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) with EU member countries. "What I can say is that we have the impression in Europe that the monetary policy of China is more focused on the dollar than on the euro and other currencies China should pay more attention to our (EU) currency because we are its top trading partner."

(China Daily)

Chinese PM is insulted by a flying shoe

China has reacted with indignation over an incident in which a shoe was thrown at its premier, Wen Jiabao.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the man who disrupted a speech by the premier had exhibited "despicable behaviour".

China's reaction was far harsher than when two shoes were thrown at former US President George W Bush.

A 27-year-old man has been charged with committing a public order offence following the incident in the UK.

British apology

The shoe was thrown at Premier Wen while he was giving a speech at Cambridge University on the global economy.

So, Wen Jiabao survived his assault by flying shoe The BBC's James Reynolds

It missed its intended target and barely disrupted the premier's speech, but that has not prevented China from issuing an angry statement.

"The Chinese side has expressed its strong feelings against the occurrence of the incident," spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement.

She said the British government had already apologised for the protester's "despicable behaviour", an act that would not affect bilateral ties.

Chinese internet users were less diplomatic when expressing their anger.

"I think the guy was very stupid. He accused the premier of being a dictator. This to me has no logic," said one, who appeared to have had a ticket to the event.

Is this the quality of students at Cambridge, a university with 800 years of history? Chinese internet user

"Is this the quality of students at Cambridge, a university with 800 years of history?" asked another.

The Chinese government's response stands in sharp contrast to the more humorous reaction to the incident involving George Bush in Iraq.

Mr Bush was on a farewell trip when a local journalist threw two shoes at the then US president. Throwing shoes is an insult in the Middle East.

When asked a question about the incident at a press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said state leaders should be respected.

But - to laughter - he added: "Next time I should watch out for not only [those] who are raising their hands, but also [those] who are untying their shoelaces."

Sole-searching

The BBC asked spokeswoman Jiang Yu about the different responses. "Both our comments are proper," she replied.

China's media outlets also seem to think this incident, where a sports shoe was thrown, is less funny than the one Mr Bush had to deal with.

When that happened, witty headlines such as, "Shoe attack leads to sole-searching" appeared in the Chinese press.

But there was no humour in reports about Premier Wen's speech, which was the top story for China's main broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV).

The shoe-throwing incident initially received little comment - and was referred to simply as "a disturbance", although later news bulletins on CCTV carried a fuller report.

Mr Wen also had to brave pro-Tibet supporters on his three-day visit to the UK.

The man charged in connection with the incident is due to appear before Cambridge magistrates next week.

(BBC)