China censors news of shoe-throwing attack on Wen Jiabao

Richard Spencer and Malcolm Moore
London Telegraph
Tuesday, Feb 3, 2009

China has reacted angrily to the shoe-throwing attack on its prime minister in Cambridge and censored mention of it from the media.

The foreign ministry in Beijing issued a statement calling the behaviour of the man who threw a trainer at Wen Jiabao during a speech "despicable" and saying it expressed its "strong displeasure".

But the statement did not describe exactly what happened and the incident has not been described in television, newspaper or online reports.

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There was also evidence that Chinese internet search engines were filtering out reports, though some comments appeared on bulletin boards.

One commenter called it "shameless" and others said it showed how China was "too soft" and allowed foreigners to bully her, though there were also surprising expressions of support.

Mr Wen's visit to Britain, which ended last night, was notable for its mixed reception. He was feted by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and given an honour guard of welcome on Horseguards Parade.

Full article here