China condemns Tony Blair as a golddigger over $500,000 fee for three-hour trip
Jenny Booth and agencies
Tony Blair has come under attack from the Chinese media after he was allegedly paid $500,000 (£237,000) for a three-hour trip to a luxury Chinese housing estate.
Chinese state press questioned whether the former Prime Minister was worth the bumper pay cheque for his whirlwind visit, and claimed that he produced little more than clichés.
The controversial visit by Mr Blair to Dongguan in China’s southern province of Guangdong happened on Tuesday.
He stopped at a luxury villa compound built by Guangda Group, a property development company which sponsored his trip, and made a speech.
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On top of his payout the company also offered to give him one of the houses worth 38 million yuan (£2.4 million), the Guangzhou Daily reported, condemning the episode as an ostentatious show of extravagance.
The newspaper did not say whether he accepted the villa, and noted that the cash payment would have been reduced to $330,000 (£156,000) after tax. It continued that Mr Blair’s Dongguan stop was just one of his “money-raking” trips in Chinese cities, including Beijing and Hong Kong.
On Monday Mr Blair gave a speech in Hong Kong at a lunch hosted by Merrill Lynch, the financial services firm which is one of the world's biggest investment banks, before heading to engagements in the booming cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan on the Chinese mainland on Tuesday.
Mr Blair seems to be aware of the increasingly hostile tone of press coverage of his China trip. Yesterday reporters were barred from the hall when Mr Blair appeared at a business forum in China. The journalists were allowed to watch his speech via a video link, but transmission was cut when the question and answer session started. No explanation was given.
Guangzhou Daily's criticisms were echoed in the China Youth Daily, which is affiliated to the Communist Party’s Youth League, which said in a commentary that Mr Blair's speech at Dongguan was full of pleasantries, and clichés on collaboration between the government and business, education, and environmental protection, but did not offer any new insight.
“Like reports made by some local officials, there was nothing new in his views... so was the speech worth the large sums of money paid out by local officials and businesses?” the commentary questioned.
It said China was quickly becoming a “gold-digging” market for international celebrities and it was now time to exercise some discernment.
“We should exercise less ostentatiousness and vanity... learn more new and genuine knowledge - especially when we are using even a penny of taxpayers’ money."
No one at Guangda was available to comment when contacted by the AFP news agency.
Since stepping down as Prime Minister in June, Mr Blair has held the sensitive role of special envoy representing the Quartet of Middle East mediators - the US, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia - helping the Palestinians to lay the groundwork for a viable independent state alongside Israel.
It is far from the first time that Mr Blair and his wife, Cherie Booth, have fallen foul of their critics for apparently courting free gifts, free holidays at private estates in Italy and the Caribbean, and sizeable fees for speaking engagements.
Mr Blair has in addition been predicted to earn a lucrative income through speeches and books after he stepped down as Prime Minister. He recently signed a deal to write his memoirs that was estimated to be worth as much as £5 million.
As an MP Mr Blair did not accept fees, and was required to record all the gifts and holidays he received in Parliament's Register of Member's Interests, and in many cases had to show that he had made an equivalent donation to charity in lieu of payment.
In 2006, for example, he and his family gave an unspecified amount to charity after spending August at Sir Cliff Richard's holiday villa in Barbados, and in December they rented a house in Florida belonging to Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees.
In the same year, the register notes that Ms Booth received royalties for her book In The Goldfish Bowl, an account of life at No 10, and that the couple received rental income from two flats in Bristol and a house in London.
As a private citizen, however, he is no longer constrained to account for what he accepts.
Ms Booth has in the past been accused of cashing in on her status as the Prime Minister's wife to charge high speaking fees in America. She was also criticised for her involvement with convicted conman Peter Foster over the purchase of the Bristol flats, and for her alleged appetite for gifts of clothing. She is due to publish her own memoirs in October 2008.
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Mr Blair has got huge morgage to service
Jenny Booth and agencies
Tony Blair has come under attack from the Chinese media after he was allegedly paid $500,000 (£237,000) for a three-hour trip to a luxury Chinese housing estate.
Chinese state press questioned whether the former Prime Minister was worth the bumper pay cheque for his whirlwind visit, and claimed that he produced little more than clichés.
The controversial visit by Mr Blair to Dongguan in China’s southern province of Guangdong happened on Tuesday.
He stopped at a luxury villa compound built by Guangda Group, a property development company which sponsored his trip, and made a speech.
Related Links
On top of his payout the company also offered to give him one of the houses worth 38 million yuan (£2.4 million), the Guangzhou Daily reported, condemning the episode as an ostentatious show of extravagance.
The newspaper did not say whether he accepted the villa, and noted that the cash payment would have been reduced to $330,000 (£156,000) after tax. It continued that Mr Blair’s Dongguan stop was just one of his “money-raking” trips in Chinese cities, including Beijing and Hong Kong.
On Monday Mr Blair gave a speech in Hong Kong at a lunch hosted by Merrill Lynch, the financial services firm which is one of the world's biggest investment banks, before heading to engagements in the booming cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan on the Chinese mainland on Tuesday.
Mr Blair seems to be aware of the increasingly hostile tone of press coverage of his China trip. Yesterday reporters were barred from the hall when Mr Blair appeared at a business forum in China. The journalists were allowed to watch his speech via a video link, but transmission was cut when the question and answer session started. No explanation was given.
Guangzhou Daily's criticisms were echoed in the China Youth Daily, which is affiliated to the Communist Party’s Youth League, which said in a commentary that Mr Blair's speech at Dongguan was full of pleasantries, and clichés on collaboration between the government and business, education, and environmental protection, but did not offer any new insight.
“Like reports made by some local officials, there was nothing new in his views... so was the speech worth the large sums of money paid out by local officials and businesses?” the commentary questioned.
It said China was quickly becoming a “gold-digging” market for international celebrities and it was now time to exercise some discernment.
“We should exercise less ostentatiousness and vanity... learn more new and genuine knowledge - especially when we are using even a penny of taxpayers’ money."
No one at Guangda was available to comment when contacted by the AFP news agency.
Since stepping down as Prime Minister in June, Mr Blair has held the sensitive role of special envoy representing the Quartet of Middle East mediators - the US, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia - helping the Palestinians to lay the groundwork for a viable independent state alongside Israel.
It is far from the first time that Mr Blair and his wife, Cherie Booth, have fallen foul of their critics for apparently courting free gifts, free holidays at private estates in Italy and the Caribbean, and sizeable fees for speaking engagements.
Mr Blair has in addition been predicted to earn a lucrative income through speeches and books after he stepped down as Prime Minister. He recently signed a deal to write his memoirs that was estimated to be worth as much as £5 million.
As an MP Mr Blair did not accept fees, and was required to record all the gifts and holidays he received in Parliament's Register of Member's Interests, and in many cases had to show that he had made an equivalent donation to charity in lieu of payment.
In 2006, for example, he and his family gave an unspecified amount to charity after spending August at Sir Cliff Richard's holiday villa in Barbados, and in December they rented a house in Florida belonging to Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees.
In the same year, the register notes that Ms Booth received royalties for her book In The Goldfish Bowl, an account of life at No 10, and that the couple received rental income from two flats in Bristol and a house in London.
As a private citizen, however, he is no longer constrained to account for what he accepts.
Ms Booth has in the past been accused of cashing in on her status as the Prime Minister's wife to charge high speaking fees in America. She was also criticised for her involvement with convicted conman Peter Foster over the purchase of the Bristol flats, and for her alleged appetite for gifts of clothing. She is due to publish her own memoirs in October 2008.
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Mr Blair has got huge morgage to service
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