From Beijing, an unfiltered view on business and economy.
As mentioned earlier, I was interviewed by the Belgian VRT at the occasion of the visit of our Belgian PM Charles Michel. See here the clip.
I finally managed to get the full segment, thanks to the help of VRT. The language is Dutch.
This is the direct link:
http://m.deredactie.be/#!/snippet/5817391ac9976f06001c35dd
I also uploaded the clip on Youtube (needs VPN in China): https://youtu.be/mXMiG4hEFTY
Or see here:
Recently I was interviewed by Rebecca Lin from www.SINO-US.com.
The interview lasted over two hours and I guess Rebecca has a lot to digest and has material for more publications…
Some of my friends were surprised to read my story. Indeed, I mostly keep a low profile so some of the more “new” friends know little about my crazy stories, Olympics and much more.
Thanks Rebecca for being very professional.
See here the link: http://sino-us.com/21/17590493560.html
The PDF: 161011-mychineseolympicdream
Then, confusion as my friend Mark Levine alerted me about another article that was published in Los Angeles, about him and me. After asking around Rebecca kindly sent me the PDF as that publication is related to SINO-US …
I honestly forgot about that interview and how those pictures landed there. I need to check about the journalist Zhang Han.
The online translation was kind of hilarious. Seems I am now :Van Gogh”. I am honored!
See part:
“Honor status. By the end of 2012, when Van Gogh was granted a Chinese green card, only about 7,300 foreigners were awarded the honor. Including two years earlier than his American-Chinese physicist Yang Zhenning.
Van Gogh was born in 1948, after graduating from university in Brazil and Nigeria, multinational companies work.”
See here the links:
http://special.uschinapress.com/161007/
and
http://news.uschinapress.com/2016/1007/1081634.shtml
The PDF: 161009-articleuschinab
I was surprised to see me in the China Daily article, where they selected a very few of the award winners of the China Friendship Award… I did not expect that at all. Is the same journalist who did the previous article about me. Half-awake drinking my morning coffee discovered it.
The article:
29 June 2016 – Old friends and new challenges
By Liu Xiangrui – China Daily
See the link:
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2016-06/29/content_25900892.htm
And see here my pdf version:
160629 ChinaDaily
It is pretty cool as the selection of the 5 people mentioned is out of the dozens of China Friendship Awards.
A bit sarcastic for me to be featured under “The Party’s 95th Anniversary” haha.
On 8 June I took part in the program of CCTV.
After a long wait it finally came out on 4 July 2016:
CCTV
Title: “Future of China-Australia ties”
It was a Dialogue special in which CCTV joined forces with Australia’s Sky News for a panel debate on the Sino-Australian relationship. Two hosts: Yang Rui (CCTV) and James Middleton (Sky News Australia)
Four Chinese debaters:
And four Australian debaters:
Well, I found the topic pretty sensitive – the issue of the South China Sea – and I thus kept silent. The panel discussion was not well structured in my view. We as part of the “international audience, former politicians and opinion-makers” were supposed to ask questions to the panelists on the stage. It all went in a strange way and our group was barely visible during the near one hour program; we were literally “left in the dark” and I was wondering why we were even there.
OK it was fun entering for the first time in the new CCTV building (ground floor only) but I have had much better experiences with CCTV in the past.
And yes I am still a lousy selfie taker! See the views of and from around the CCTV tower.
While I normally stay far away from Global Times for their unprofessional way of working, I am always happy to spend time with China Daily. This time it only confirmed: the journalist Mr. Liu Xiangrui was very patient (we talked for nearly 2 hours) but also submitted his draft so I could review and correct some few details.
The interview took place (as usual) in my home office, on 6 June 2016.
I submitted many pictures and finally they selected the ones you can view in the published interview.
See here the two versions, the printed one (B&W) and a download of the web versions (color)
Needless to say, I was pretty happy with the result!