Chinese bloggers debate shoe-throwing as media breaks silence

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China's blogs were abuzz after a shoe-throwing protest at Premier Wen Jiabao in Cambridge yesterday - as state television finally showed footage of what had happened following a blackout lasting several hours.

By the time China Central Television showed the incident on its evening news - the morning papers having ignored it - the country's lively blogosphere had long-since started talking about it.

One of the most widely read blogs began the day with a photo of the offending grey trainer being retrieved from the stage, along with a joking challenge to China’s patriotic youth to turn to Britain as their next target for a boycott after taking on the French for their pro-Tibet stand last year.

Comments were mainly humorous. Several suggested a boycott of the English language, some a boycott of the 2012 London Olympics. Others commented that either Premier Wen had shown off his dodging skills or the shoe thrower’s skills were abysmal. The shoe fell several feet wide of its target.

Another complained that Hong Kong-based Phoenix television cut away from live transmission of the speech as the fracas began. State-run China Central Television did the same, splicing in nervous presenters until the man was taken away.

The Chinese state, meanwhile, appeared to be considering whether or not to show the footage - or refer to it at all.

The People’s Daily and the Beijing News published glowing accounts of their Premier’s visit to Britain. According to their accounts - making no mention of the shoe-throwing - he held talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and issued a joint communiqué.

For most of the day, the main web sites, sometimes more lively and more-up-to-date than the newspapers, gave a tantalising hint that his visit may not have gone entirely according to plan but did not specify exactly what had happened. They carried a statement from the Foreign Ministry this morning voicing dissatisfaction about a “disruption” of his speech.

Finally, at 7pm, the evening news showed the shoe-throwing with all the detail that cameras in the room had been able to catch. The news presenter described the incident, said that the Premier had remained composed throughout and then showed him resume his speech unperturbed.

He was shown to say: “This despicable behaviour cannot stand in the way of friendship between China and the UK."

The bulletin also showed a clip of the Cambridge University website and highlighted a statement from the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alison Richard, in which she said: “I deeply regret that a single member of the audience this afternoon failed to show the respect for our speaker that is customary at Cambridge. The university is a place for considered, argument and debate, not for shoe-throwing.”

Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, also voiced official displeasure. “The Chinese side has expressed its strong dissatisfaction about the incident. The British side has expressed deep regret to the Chinese side and said Britain would punish this person in accordance with laws."

She added: “Facts show the troublemaker who conducted this mean act is not accepted by the public, and he will not stop the trend of a developing friendly relationship between China and Britain."

As for the protester who shouted down the Premier and then tossed his shoe, British police said a 27-year-old man had been charged with a public order offence and would appear in court on February 10. He was not identified.