Wen Jiabao urges leniency for shoe thrower

Posted By Joshua Keating Monday, February 9, 2009 - 1:01 PM Share

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has urged British authorities to take it easy on Martin Jahnke, the German student who threw a shoe at him in Cambridge last Monday:

"Education is best for a young student, and I hope he will have the opportunity to continue his education. The return of a prodigal is worth more than gold. I hope the student recognises his mistake and uses his developing eyesight to recognise the real China."

I have to imagine that Grandpa Wen would not be so lenient if the incident had occured in China. Still it shows a concern for his international image and an understanding that a little leniency can at least partially diffuse an embarassing international incident. Or a better understanding than George W. Bush anyway.

EXPLORE:BRITAIN, CHINA, DIPLOMACY

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PARVUS

2:18 AM ET

February 10, 2009

Good one....

Let me see if I got this right: the condescending, utterly disingenuous, official platitudes of a Communist dictator show a *better* understanding of how to deal with these situations than the comments of George W. Bush?.... I think you just won the silliest comment of the week award. And it's only Tuesday!

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