I see here an endless coming and going of ministers, presidents and celebrities. Belgium being a huge country we of course are blessed with a never ending amount of ministers coming to China (As far as I know, Belgium has more ministers than China, or?)
It was nice to meet again Jean-Luc Dehaene who came as a member of a EU parliamentary delegation. On 22 November I joined him in his visit to BOCOG, the exhibition hall with the Olympic scale models and the National Stadium in the Olympic Green. We also had a private meeting to review the project of the famous Brussels artist Olivier Strebelle.
Gad Weil, Gilbert & Dehaene / vice mayor Liu Jingmin prefers to close his eyes listening to Gilbert’s explanations
Note (1): Chairman of the Delegation for Relations With the PRC – European Parliament
Note (2): Vice Chairman
It is the second time I meet him, on 5 November 1998 I had the pleasure of chairing a dinner in Shanghai in his honor when I was the president of the Belgian Luxembourg Business Association. At that time, Jean-Luc Dehaene was Prime Minister of Belgium and he at least can be counted as one of the nice politicians to receive here.
He came after Lionel Jospin who visited my office in Shanghai on 25 September 1998, together with French ministers and the then Shanghai vice mayor Chen Liangyu (now under house arrest for corruption…).
Jospin went straight to my office, made himself comfortable and kicked everybody out to have a conversation with Alstom’s president Pierre Bilger (yeah, asking him if that crazy Gilbert really was getting the project of Shanghai metro Line 3). All in all, he was nice too.
Note here: (www.answers.com): “Formerly one of France’s top business leaders, Pierre Bilger stepped down earlier than planned from his post as chairman of the international, French-based ALSTOM engineering conglomerate. Under his stewardship, the once-giant company eventually found itself on the brink of bankruptcy.” – “ALSTOM’s board awarded Bilger a EUR 4.1 million severance payout that many called a “reward for failure.” The payout enraged French investors, most of who blamed the company’s collapse on Bilger’s ambition and reckless leadership.” – “On August 14, 2003, in an entirely unprecedented move, Bilger sent a letter to his successor stating that he would return the payout—the first time an executive had returned a payout to a French corporation.”
I have (of course) my own point of view on that. And not so positive. Maybe Bilger and Chen Liangyu could sit together and compare notes on raising stars that fall deep.