In a rare interview with foreign media, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (the popular “Grandpa Wen”) was interviewed by CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria. Although it’s annoying to listen to the translator’s voice dubbed over Wen’s–hasn’t CNN heard of subtitles?–Zakaria and Wen touch on a variety of issues, from the economy to the Dalai Lama.
At the beginning of the first clip, Zakaria explains that one of his conditions for the interview was that he was allowed to ask any question that he wished. While watching the video, there’s certainly a sense that in his carefully phrased answers, Wen is speaking both to the American and to the domestic audience.
Before watching this video, it’s well worth reading this insightful article by James Fallows on the delicate economic balance between China and the US.
Part One:
Part Two:
Some particular highlights:
Wen refutes the idea that China is a superpower, because of the large gap between the rural and urban areas
Wen turns the table on Zakaria and asks if he, Zakaria, agrees with him on China’s role in negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear threat
Zakaria asks Wen about the famous photo of Wen during the Tian’anmen Square protests (Regarding that photo, Richard Spencer has an excellent analysis of Wen’s place as a “good official” in the Chinese political narrative), Wen diplomatically turns that into a question about democracy
Citing Adam Smith, Wen reconciles the inherent contradiction in having a market economy within a socialist system
Zakaria asks about the Great Firewall and if it is possible for an advanced society to develop under this kind of censorship
Bookmark this page and you can watch the Olympic Games without a TV. Especially useful for catching the events that get little to no airtime — equestrian dressage, anyone?
The first section of this page is dedicated to Chinese resources. Good for overseas Chinese who want to hear Chinese commentary on their favorite events. The second section is for non-Chinese language. Feel free to add good resources for your language/country in the comments below thus more readers can view the video online.
Tangos Chan, VP of China Growth Capital, discusses his forays into corporate consultancy, his feelings on the third annual China ICT conference as well as the intricacies of introducing foreigners to the Chinese IT industry through his English blog.
Interview Transcript:
We know you are a blog writer, can you tell us which field you write your blog in?
My blog maybe a little different from what you usually read, because it’s all in English. My blog mainly introduces the newest development in the high technology industry for the oversea readers. The goal for my blog is to provide a good resourceful place for people to learn about China’s daily development in the high-tech industry.
Are you a full time blogger?
I know there are many full time bloggers in Western countries, but I am not. I have a daily job in China Growth Capital Company. Our business model is to provide the service of consultating for the early stage startups. We invest capital and provide resources for these startups that include: teamwork building, management strategy, etc. Our goal is to help these startup companies grow and get on their feet so that it can win more financing and eventually becoming an solid self-efficient company.
Is this your first time attending the China ICT event? What do you think is the most exciting part of the event?
Yes, this is my first time here. China ICT used to be called Rising Stars Home, it helped introduced many developed companies to me so that I can learn about their new high-technology and progress.
Have you been to an event similar to China ICT?
There’s an annual conference organized by the bloggers of China called China Blogger Con. It’s different than the usual conference because it is founded by commoners. The conference is very informal and includes a lot of interactions with each other. It will be held this year in November 15th, 2008 in Guang Zhou, we welcome everyone to join us.
CNReviews is a blog about China’s technology, travel, entrepreneurship, and the blogosphere. David Feng is based in Beijing, where he authors TechBlog86, runs Beijingology, and serves as President of BeiMac Union. Elliott Ng is an venture-backed Web 2.0 entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. Min Guo is a Shanghai-based Internet analyst and blogger. Kai Pan is a Shanghai-based entrepreneur.
