Results tagged “uk”

So by now, everyone knows the gig is off, presumably because of Oasis' pro-Tibet leanings. But before we learned that the British brothers wouldn't be performing on our shores, the editrixes at managed to get an exclusive interview in with them - separately. If it really was because of the Tibet issue and not just finances, the Chinese government really ought to read the piece and change their minds.

Forget coming to Shanghai to pick up a cheap knock-off handbag, the latest fashion is for middle-class Chinese to head to the UK to pick up the real thing at knock-down prices.

Oops! It looks like somebody at Downing Street is about to get fired. At a trade agreement signing ceremony between Premier Wen Jiabao, U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and U.K. Trade Secretary Lord Mandelson, the Union Jack was flown upside down.

A human rights protestor, described as a Western-looking man with dark hair and in his early twenties, has been detained by UK police after he threw his shoe at Prime Minister Wen Jiabao while he was delivering a speech at Cambridge University. According to The Times, the young man blew a whistle as Premier Wen was about to wrap up his speech, shouting:

“How can the university prostitute itself with this dictator? How can you listen to these lies?”

As he was being hauled out of the crowded auditorium by university security staff, he yelled to the audience:

“Stand up and protest, you're not challenging him.”

[Editor's note: AFP, AP and CNN offer slightly varying quotes of what the protestor said]

On Sept 26, in Tianjin at the World Economic Forum, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson drank a glass of milk (click to see video) in front of the media to show his support for the Chinese dairy industry and said:

The Europeans will continue to expect the highest standards, just as Chinese consumers are demanding the same…. But in the meantime I shall continue drinking my own favorite, er, milk, er, product, er, er, which I enjoy and which does not make me nervous.

His action, it was reported in the China Daily, touched Premier Wen Jiabao:

Wen said he was very moved when he saw in television European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson drinking a cup of Chinese milk on Friday to show his trust in China-made products. “It's because he not only sees the present, but the future as well,” Wen said.

Just nine days later, Peter Mandelson, who now has a new job as Business Secretary back in the UK, has been diagnosed with a kidney stone:

"Over the past few days, Peter Mandelson has been experiencing some kidney pain," a spokesman said.

Continue reading "EU Trade Commissioner UK Business Secretary Peter Mandelson drinks Chinese milk, then gets diagnosed with kidney stone 9 days later"

An international phenomenon that started in China has finally made it back, almost instantaneously across many Chinese media outlets yesterday. The story is that a netizen from the UK who goes by markm49uk found a picture of a factory worker from Foxcon in Guangdong on his brand-spanking-new-straight-out-of-the-box iPhone. The photo is probably the result of someone testing the phone or just mucking around with them in the factory but because the worker is a sweet looking young girl, she has become somewhat of a sensation.

"A top aide to Gordon Brown has been a suspected victim of a “honeytrap” operation by Chinese intelligence agents. The aide, a senior Downing Street adviser who was with the prime minister on a trip to China earlier this year, had his BlackBerry phone stolen after being picked up by a Chinese woman who had approached him in a Shanghai hotel disco. The aide agreed to return to his hotel with the woman. He reported the BlackBerry missing the next morning. The aide, whose identity is known to The Sunday Times, immediately reported the theft to the prime minister’s Special Branch protection team and was informally reprimanded." [Source]