Comments on: Understanding the Bush Legacy in China

By: Robert Vance

Robert Vance — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:40:21 +0000

Thanks for posting that. Very interesting. And you are right. No one here knows anything about it which of course is to be expected.

I think it’s amusing how Wen said, “This despicable behaviour cannot stand in the way of friendship between China and the UK…” because knowing how the Chinese govt reacts to things, this very well could have turned into an international crisis. I’m glad he took it so well…

By: J.macklby

J.macklby — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:20:58 +0000

Here’s the article Vance, from the British Newspaper’The Times Online’,February 2 2009. I trust that you and your Chinese associates and other readers to ‘Teach Abroad China’ will find it most ‘instructive’….J.M.

Ben Macintyre, Cambridge and Nico Hines
A protester threw a shoe at Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Premier, today as he delivered a speech on the global economy at Cambridge University.

Mr Wen was coming to the last part of his address when a young Western-looking man with dark hair stood up, blew a whistle and shouted: “How can the university prostitute itself with this dictator? How can you listen to these lies?”

The man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, then took off his heavy shoe and threw it at the stage missing the Premier by a few feet.

“Stand up and protest, you’re not challenging him,” he shouted in a European accent as he was bundled out of the room by security staff.

Mr Wen then reprimanded the protester as more security guards moved on to the stage before he finished his speech.

“This despicable behaviour cannot stand in the way of friendship between China and the UK,” he said.

Shoe-throwing as an act of protest was popularised in December by Muntadhar al-Zeidi, an Iraqi journalist, who threw his brogues at George W. Bush, the former American president. He missed with both attempts but was arrested by Iraqi security forces.

Security was tight in the build up to the speech with scores of Chinese secret service agents monitoring the audience. The guests who heard Mr Jibao speak were searched and passed through metal detractors as they entered the room.

Police kept demonstrators away from the Premier as he arrived to speak. A group of objecting to Chinese policy in Tibet and raising concerns about human rights in China were penned in a corner about 50 yards from the entrance.

Mr Wen was in England for economic talks with Gordon Brown. The Prime Minister said the earlier that the economic relationship between Britain and China would be a vital way of weathering the current worldwide economic storm.

“The strength of the relationship between China and Britain will be a pivotal force in helping us through the downturn and a powerful driving force behind our future growth and prosperity,” he said.

Mr Wen was due to return home tonight at the end of a trip that has also taken him to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to Germany and the EU headquarters in Brussels.

By: Robert Vance

Robert Vance — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:06:13 +0000

Good stuff J. I didn’t hear about that. Can you give us a source? I’d love to read about it.

By: J.macklby

J.macklby — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:11:43 +0000

Chinese officials laughed and snickered when Bush ducked and weaved in the path of that flying shoe in Bagdad in December, adding that the shoe attack would lead him to some necessary soul-searching.
Yesterday the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao learned that the Europeans have some shoes of their own to throw, as one sailed past him on the stage where he was speaking at England’s Cambridge university.
Evidently the hurler of the show was upset that Britain was now ‘prostituting’ itself by ending it’s
policy of being the only western government that had kept a representative in the Tibetan capital.
Of course now the Chinese propaganda department is calling this flying shoe, a ‘despicable act’…..And naturally very few in China even know about it, the state controlled media having deleted mention of it, or at most, called it a ‘disturbance’, while focusing instead on the Chinese leader speaking to any friendly applause that was available .

By: Sora

Sora — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 03:07:50 +0000

I do believe that Bush has been a friend to China. Almost any good purchased within the USA came from or was made in China. Due to our craving for quantity and being cheap, I believe it has help create the economic crisis that we are in. What are we really producing here besides a failing auto industry? The Bush Administration symbolizes to Americans all the terrible things that can happen when America becomes apathetic towards it’s own system as well as itself. Having the second to worst approval rating of a presidency will definitely go down in the history books.

By: Demerzel

Demerzel — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:24:51 +0000

Patriot Act, Protect America Act, Warrantless Wiretapping, Bush’s inability to state what torture is, approval of torture within the US territories, indefinite holding of an American citizen without a warrant or charge & then move to military tribunal systems.

Uh… we had the Anthrax attack on his watch, which as far as I can tell, was a terrorist attack after 9/11, so no, he has had one. Iraq had no bearing to 9/11 and in fact made the US less safe as it diverted our resources away from Afghanistan and Al Qaeda.

By: Robert Vance

Robert Vance — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 01:48:19 +0000

@Demerzel,

Agreed on the first point. I actually thought the Bush administration handled that ‘crisis’ very well which like you said probably helped to improve relations.

On your other points…are you speaking of the Patriot Act when you write that “he was a hypocrite in regards to human rights that he could not even bother to care about within the US…”? I realize that he has been criticized for Iraq, Guatanamo Bay, etc, but in the US?

Anyway, there is no question that Iraq has also made him unpopular here but in my opinion, our country is safer because of it and because of the war in Afghanistan. No attacks since 9/11 is amazing. I hope Obama can continue that…

By: Demerzel

Demerzel — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:56:07 +0000

Bush’s first few months in office were actually not very kind to China until the air fighter vs. spy plane incident–it was after that incident did relations between Bush and the CCP improve.

I do however, disagree on your conclusion that:

“Someday – after enough time has passed for history to deliver a fair verdict – I believe that President Bush will be remembered as a friend to the People’s Republic of China. His willingness to maintain strong relations with China while at the same being firm with Beijing on the issue of human rights has helped push China further in the right direction as it struggles to emerge from the shadows of oppression and destitution.”

Yes, he’ll get his deserved credit for the Olympics, but mostly they will see him as nothing but a hypocrite in regards to human rights that he could not even bother to care about within the US.

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:43:45 +0000

Well said, Vance.

It made me proud to see Bush standing in the Bird’s Nest applauding the athletes last August. I don’t like everything he did while in office, but I have always believed that boycotting the Olympics would have done so much more harm to US-China relations than it would good.