Personal Touch
Tributes poured in from all sides following the death in Beijing last week of former prime minister Zhu Rongji. China has lost a giant of economic development, Hong Kong has lost a friend.
Among the many qualities quoted by people who knew him well, one in particular caught my eye as reported in this newspaper under the headline “A boldness and personal touch not forgotten”. Though I met him only once, and then very briefly, I can confirm the latter point from direct experience.
Zhu’s achievements throughout his career, particularly in his five years as premier have been widely reported. They were many and varied, especially in the economic field. Reform at the macro level had begun in 1980 at the prompting of Deng Xiaoping, but it was Zhu who implemented the tough structural reforms that locked in the gains and facilitated China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation.
I met Zhu in Hainan Island during the second half of 2001 during preparations for the first meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia. This organisation has a fascinating history having been initiated in 1998 by Fidel V. Ramos, former President of the Philippines, Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia, and Morihiro Hosokawa, former Prime Minister of Japan. The underlying objective was to set up the equivalent in Asia of the World Economic Forum held in Davos Switzerland so that leaders in government, business and academia from around the region could exchange views on important issues of the day. China became the driving force behind the idea, the Secretariat is based in Beijing and its annual meetings are held at Boao on Hainan Island, hence the name Boao Forum for Asia. The non-profit Forum now comprises 28 Asian and Australasian states.
It had been decided to hold the first meeting in mid-April 2002. In order to test the ability of Boao to host such an important event it was decided to conduct a full-scale dress rehearsal in late 2001. This would assess capacity to handle airport arrivals of large numbers of VIP guests, transport logistics to the conference centre, hotel check-in arrangements, conduct of the meeting itself etc. As the Forum would be important for the country’s economic development, which was at the core of our relatively new department’s work, we at InvestHk (formed in July 2000) had a vested interest in contributing to its success; we decided we should participate in the trial run and I headed a small team to Hainan. It was also an opportunity for me, as a newly naturalised Chinese citizen, to exercise my Home Return Permit.
To show the importance the central government attached to the Forum and the practice session, premier Zhu attended personally.
Like everyone else I knew Zhu’s reputation as a hard hitter in national affairs. I had also learned in 1999, during the negotiations with the Walt Disney Company which resulted in the agreement to develop Hong Kong Disneyland, that Zhu was allegedly a big fan of the company’s theme parks. Earlier in his career, while Mayor of Shanghai, he had visited Disneyland in the United States. Upon return home he had reportedly summoned a map of Pudong and drawn a large circle inscribed with the words “Site for Shanghai Disneyland”. Whether that report is apocryphal or true I know not to this day, similarly with the claim that the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew also lobbied strongly on behalf of his city.
Whenever either claim was made during the negotiations I would respond by extolling the attractions of Universal Studios.
The day dawned when Zhu was due to address the ranks of those in attendance. We were lined up in six rows, important people in the front, slightly important people in the second row, the rest of us behind. I found myself in row three. Zhu was escorted slowly along the front to his seat, greeting one or two of the more prominent guests by name and shaking a hand here and there. He passed the area where I stood and was about to sit down. Suddenly he seemed to remember something, wheeled round, and came back a couple of yards until he was level with me again. His hand snaked through rows one and two and shook mine.
Zhu did not speak and I was too dumbfounded to utter a peep. He returned to his assigned place, the cameras clicked and the event unfolded. And scores of people were left to wonder who the hell I was.
Naturally I discussed the episode with friends and colleagues later. The consensus was that the premier had been briefed on important people who would be in attendance and there might also have been a separate section, with photographs, of oddballs he might bump into. Perhaps I qualified through shared interest in Disneyland or some other foible – the sight of a blue-eyed Chinese perhaps, who knows? Whatever the real reason, it was certainly a bold gesture and clear evidence of a personal touch. And it will never be forgotten, at least in our household.