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| Lecture by Mr Dominic
Ziegler, September 2007 |
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Mr. Dominic Ziegler, Tokyo Bureau Chief of The Economist Magazine, gave
a talk on Sep.7 (Fri.) at the Japan National Press Center, with nearly all 60 seats
filled. The Economist correspondent for Hong Kong and Beijing, Mr. Ziegler is known
as the magazine's "China Watcher." What is the significance of the recent rise
of China? How is it perceived by the rest of the world? The climax of China's rapid rise
will be the Olympic Games next year. The Chinese government is loudly trumpeting its
emergence as the new superpower both internationally and domestically, hoping to have
recognized the victory of communism in the management of the country not only economically
but in various ways.
Ziegler-san has recently discerned three stories. The first was when he met the Dalai Lama
and spoke with him about the shooting death by a Chinese border guard of a Tibetan youth
who tried to cross the Chinese border in a mountainous region. The second story concerns a
twelve-year old flower seller whose home he visited, tracing a terrible road through the
country to a poor village to meet the girl's mother. The third story was about the cheap
compensation paid to farmers forcibly removed from their land in order to develop the
outskirts of Beijing. Various topics were also covered in the Q&A session following
this very lively talk.
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