A demonstrator at Cambridge University was
arrested Monday for throwing a shoe at Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in protest
against his visit to Britain, dpa reported.
The university said the missile landed near the Chinese leader as he was giving
a lecture, following his talks in London earlier with British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown.
One onlooker said Wen was getting toward the end of the lecture when someone
stood and shouted: "How can you listen to this unchallenged?"
Security staff moved towards the man and arrested him on suspicion of
committing a public order offence.
Protests by pro-Tibet demonstrators have accompanied Wen's visit since he
arrived in Britain Sunday.
Earlier in London, Wen pledged that China will cooperate with Western countries
to restore confidence in markets in the fight against the global economic
recession.
Describing his current European tour as a "journey of confidence,"
Wen said: "Confidence is more precious than gold and currency."
He told a business conference in London that Beijing would take "immediate
measures" to organize a trip by a Chinese business delegation to Europe to "purchase goods, commodities and new technology."
"When protectionism is on the rise we have to restore confidence in the
markets," said Wen. He said the current crisis had global causes and
dimensions and could not be solved by any country on its own.
It was therefore important that the planned G20 meeting in London in April
should take "effective and concrete action" to oppose protectionism,
and reform global financial institutions and regulatory systems worldwide.
At a press conference later, Wen said his delegation had signed a total of 38
cooperation agreements with European companies during his visits to Germany, Brussels and Britain.
Wen did not go to Paris as tensions linger over President Nicolas Sarkozy's
meeting with Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, when he held the EU's
rotating presidency two months ago.
Brown Monday thanked Wen for his "support in the battle against
protectionism" and for a reform of global financial institutions.
He said China's massive fiscal stimulus package announced at the end of last
year would create "huge opportunities" for British exports to China, particularly in the low-carbon technologies of the future.
Brown said his target was to double British exports to China from 5 billion dollars in 2008 to 10 billion dollars in 2010.
"The strength of the relationship between China and Britain will be a pivotal force in helping us through the downturn and a powerful driving
force behind our future growth and prosperity," said Brown.
In an interview published in the Financial Times Monday, Wen said that Beijing was considering fresh measures to boost its economy beyond the major fiscal
package launched at the end of 2008.
Wen said China's economy had slowed sharply in the fourth quarter of 2008, with
growth dipping to 6.8 per cent. His government hoped that a list of measures -
including massive infrastructure spending and handouts to consumers - would
lead to economic growth of "around 8 per cent" this year.
On global warming, Wen said China would take steps to "self-
regulate" its carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency, but
indicated that China would be reluctant to accept a "quantitative"
cap on its emissions at the Copenhagen climate change conference later this
year.
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