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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Wen makes online chat debut
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>He is clearly popular as questions pour in on wide range of topics </TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
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Mr Wen (left) prepares to chat in Beijing with Internet surfers on two state news portals. Among the questions he chose was one on the shoe-throwing incident in Britain last month. -- PHOTO: XINHUA
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Beijing - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao underscored his popularity yesterday in his first online chat, deluged with about 500,000 questions by netizens on subjects ranging from a shoe-throwing protest to his cooking skills.
The Web discussion - jointly hosted by the websites of the central government and the official Xinhua news agency - lasted about two hours, and came ahead of the national parliament session this week.
Some netizens asked him about the amount he earned, how long he slept a day, and how much alcohol he could drink, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
But Mr Wen chose not to answer those, focusing instead on the more serious issues, such as the economic crisis and China's health- care reform.
In all, he responded to more than 30 queries. He personally picked up a question about the shoe-throwing incident that took place in Britain last month.
A 27-year-old German student hurled a shoe at Mr Wen when he was making a speech in Cambridge University as part of an official visit to Britain, calling him a dictator.
'The first thing that came to my mind was to maintain the dignity of our country and people and to maintain the friendship between China and the United Kingdom,' he said yesterday.
He added that he was blinded by spotlights and could not see what was thrown at him.
'Even if it was a dangerous item, I would not have budged a bit,' he said.
Netizen Huamei complained that officials in her hometown were too corrupt.
Mr Wen said the government was making preparations for officials to declare their assets in an effort to fight widespread graft in China.
He also warned that the global economic crisis had not yet hit bottom.
Mr Wen's online chat with the public came after President Hu Jintao fielded questions from netizens for about 20 minutes at the website of People's Daily in June last year.
'I always think that the public are entitled to know what the government thinks and does and are entitled to criticise government policies,' the Premier said.
Still, he revealed that he was nervous because this was his first online chat, though he surfs the Internet every day for 30 minutes to one hour.
'But I will always remember my mother's words that no matter who you are speaking to, you must be honest and use your heart to talk,' he said.
On a lighter note, he disclosed a little about his family life.
'To be frank, I don't cook now. When my wife and I were younger, whoever returned home from work earlier would cook,' he said. AFP, Xinhua, Reuters
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>He is clearly popular as questions pour in on wide range of topics </TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Mr Wen (left) prepares to chat in Beijing with Internet surfers on two state news portals. Among the questions he chose was one on the shoe-throwing incident in Britain last month. -- PHOTO: XINHUA
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Beijing - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao underscored his popularity yesterday in his first online chat, deluged with about 500,000 questions by netizens on subjects ranging from a shoe-throwing protest to his cooking skills.
The Web discussion - jointly hosted by the websites of the central government and the official Xinhua news agency - lasted about two hours, and came ahead of the national parliament session this week.
Some netizens asked him about the amount he earned, how long he slept a day, and how much alcohol he could drink, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
But Mr Wen chose not to answer those, focusing instead on the more serious issues, such as the economic crisis and China's health- care reform.
In all, he responded to more than 30 queries. He personally picked up a question about the shoe-throwing incident that took place in Britain last month.
A 27-year-old German student hurled a shoe at Mr Wen when he was making a speech in Cambridge University as part of an official visit to Britain, calling him a dictator.
'The first thing that came to my mind was to maintain the dignity of our country and people and to maintain the friendship between China and the United Kingdom,' he said yesterday.
He added that he was blinded by spotlights and could not see what was thrown at him.
'Even if it was a dangerous item, I would not have budged a bit,' he said.
Netizen Huamei complained that officials in her hometown were too corrupt.
Mr Wen said the government was making preparations for officials to declare their assets in an effort to fight widespread graft in China.
He also warned that the global economic crisis had not yet hit bottom.
Mr Wen's online chat with the public came after President Hu Jintao fielded questions from netizens for about 20 minutes at the website of People's Daily in June last year.
'I always think that the public are entitled to know what the government thinks and does and are entitled to criticise government policies,' the Premier said.
Still, he revealed that he was nervous because this was his first online chat, though he surfs the Internet every day for 30 minutes to one hour.
'But I will always remember my mother's words that no matter who you are speaking to, you must be honest and use your heart to talk,' he said.
On a lighter note, he disclosed a little about his family life.
'To be frank, I don't cook now. When my wife and I were younger, whoever returned home from work earlier would cook,' he said. AFP, Xinhua, Reuters
