Ping-pong matches, an Olympic invitation and exchange of
well-known proverbs together with trade and climate change deals
featured British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's first-day visit to
China.
Brown, accompanied by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, sat with students, scholars,
sportsmen and entrepreneurs for a 45-minute dialogue at the Renmin
University of China, and took questions ranging from Olympic
cooperation to the ever-popular "Is China's rise a threat?"
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
gestures as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown listens during the
informal discussions with students and citizen representatives at
the Renmin University of China in Beijing, Jan. 18,
2008.
In a gambit to the dialogue, Wen quoted famed Irish playwright
George Bernard Shaw in saying, "If you have an apple and I have an
apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each
have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we
exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas."
He said, "Both Prime Minister Brown and I are here to listen to
what you have to say so that it will help us better work for the
people."
Brown also went metaphorical and said, "There is an old Chinese
saying that 'snow means there will be a good harvest.' You had snow
in Beijing yesterday. I believe we will see good harvest ... in a
strong and developing relations that will bind our two countries in
the future."
The British leader arrived in Beijing on Friday morning for a
three-day visit, his first as prime minister since taking office in
last June. He last visited China as Chancellor of the Exchequer in
2005.
In the morning talks, both leaders reached extensive agreement,
renewed trade goals to US$60 billion by 2010, and landed sizeable
US$800million deals in fields such as education and energy.
The consensus continued into the afternoon with a
question-and-answer session, as the two leaders were seated
casually in antique wooden chairs against a blue backdrop pictured
with patterns of peony and rose, representing the two countries.
The session hall, located in the elite Renmin University of China,
was crowded with an 100-strong Chinese and British audience.
Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao?gestures as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown listens
during the informal discussions with students and citizen
representatives at the Renmin University of China in
Beijing,?Jan. 18, 2008.
Both leaders stressed friendship between the two peoples,
similarity in government policies to "do more for the people", and
cooperation in every area possible.
Responding to a Chinese scholar's question on Sino-British
cooperation on climate change, Brown said, "There is an old British
saying 'you can't bring coal to Newcastle'. We can't bring coal to
China, but we can bring clean-coal technology to China, and reduce
carbon emissions by using different sources of fuel."
The Olympics seemed to fit in quite well in talks between the
two Chinese and British leaders, whose capitals will host the next
two Olympics: Beijing this summer, and London in 2012.
In the dialogue, Brown drew laughter from the crowd when he
said, "I know China will win a lot of medals (in the 2008 Olympic Games). I hope there will be some
medals left so that Britain may win a few."
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown pose with players and
coaches of the two countries for a group photo at Renmin University
of China in Beijing,?Jan. 18, 2008. Wen and Brown came to the
Renmin Unviversity of China to watch a table tennis match of
players from China and Britain.
He also assured the crowd that he will "definitely come to the
Olympics if invited." Wen immediately added that "on behalf of the
Chinese government, I would like to extend the invitation again to
Prime Minister Brown and Mrs Brown to China for the Olympic
Games."
Both leaders said they had agreed on a program to provide mutual
mentoring and training to young athletes in the two countries as
they watched young table tennis players in a stadium of the
university.
Wen said he hoped that "Sports, a transcending force that links
people's hearts and souls, can serve to deepen friendship and
cooperation between China and Britain."
In a goodwill gesture before traveling to China, Brown invited
20 prominent members of the Chinese community in Britain to his
No.10 Downing Street base. They included Chinese footballers Zheng
Zhi of Charlton Athletic and Manchester United's Dong Fangzhuo.
(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2008)
