AFP - Tuesday, February
3
CAMBRIDGE, England (AFP) - - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's
European tour ended dramatically when a protester hurled a shoe at
him as he gave a speech at Britain's Cambridge University.
Police in the eastern English city later charged a 27-year-old
man with a public order offence in relation to the incident, which
came at the end of a three-day trip to Britain that included talks
with Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
In a clear echo of the Iraqi journalist who threw a shoe at
George W. Bush in Baghdad in December, the Caucasian protester had
shouted "This is a scandal" as he interrupted Wen's speech from the
back of the auditorium.
"This dictator here, how can you listen to the lies he's
telling? You are not challenging him," he said before blowing a
whistle and hurling a sports trainer at Wen, who had been
discussing China's role in the globalised world.
The shoe landed about a yard from the Chinese premier, who
glanced sharply to one side to watch it hit the stage, but did not
appear frightened. A security man kicked the shoe off the
stage.
As the protester was bundled out, he shouted to audience
members: "Stand up and protest," to which some of the spectators --
most of whom appeared to be Chinese students -- retorted: "Shame on
you, shame on you."
After the interruption, Wen reproached the demonstrator.
"This despicable behaviour cannot stand in the way of friendship
between China and the UK," he said, receiving a round of applause
from the audience.
China said Tuesday it had expressed its strong dissatisfaction
to the British government over the throwing of a shoe at Wen, but
emphasised that bilateral ties would not be harmed.
The Chinese government appeared to want to play down the
embarrassing incident domestically, with the state-run press either
censoring or ignoring the event and Internet chatter about it
restricted to a few pro-China comments.
"The Chinese side has expressed its strong dissatisfaction about
the incident," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a
statement.
But it then acknowledged the British government had expressed
"deep regret".
The incident echoed the protest by Iraqi journalist Muntazer
al-Zaidi against then-US president Bush on December 14, which won
him global fame.
A spokeswoman for Cambridge police said: "Following an incident
in the auditorium during the premier's speech earlier today, a man
has been charged with a public order offence." He will appear in
court on February 10, she said.
She gave no information about the nationality of the man, who
appeared to have a non-English, European accent.
Wen was interrupted as he delivered a largely anodyne speech in
front of about 500 people in a concert hall here. Security was
tight, and outside about 200 mostly pro-Chinese demonstrators were
kept in two pens on the pavement.
Supporters waved red Chinese flags, some banged drums and there
was a colourful paper dragon -- although one banner said: "Remember
Tiananmen."
Earlier, Wen held talks with Brown in London where he promised
to join urgent and coordinated action to avert a global economic
disaster.
Brown said Britain wants to double its exports to China within
18 months, and stressed the relationship between the two nations
would be a "pivotal force" in weathering the global economic
storm.
Wen's first visit to Britain since 2006 came at the end of a
high-profile European trip that included Germany, Spain, the
European Union headquarters in Brussels and the World Economic
Forum at Davos, Switzerland.
But the tour was clouded by pro-Tibetan protests which regularly
target trips by Chinese leaders.
China is particularly sensitive about Tibet questions ahead of
the 50th anniversary of the March 1959 uprising that led to the
escape of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, into exile.
In London, some 50 pro-Tibetan and 100 pro-Chinese demonstrators
gathered outside Brown's Downing Street office for rival protests
to coincide with Wen's visit there. Five pro-Tibetan activists had
been arrested in a protest Sunday.
Chinese state television CCTV broadcast Wen's speech in
Cambridge but abruptly cut away from the coverage when the protest
happened.
A proctor, who is responsible for discipline at the university,
told AFP that university officials asked the protester to stop
shouting and sit down.
"He continued, took off a shoe and then threw it towards the
stage. The constables (university police) got to him and took him
out," he said.
University Vice-Chancellor Professor Alison Richard said she
"deeply regret" the outburst, saying: "This university is a place
for considered argument and debate, not for shoe-throwing."
