IRISH EXAMINER: Chinese premier lays on the charm for Bertie
(extract)
September 4, 2001[....]
Because Premier Zhu Rongji is clearly no slouch in the charm department himself. There cant be many world leaders who could squeeze a laugh out of a question about the imprisonment and torture of their own citizens.
But when he declared that we had got it all wrong and invited the man from RTE to visit China free of charge to see for himself, there were titters all round. Before everyone remembered that it couldnt be funny because it was so serious, of course.