泰晤士报 中国媒体声讨布莱尔掘金之行

据说布莱尔在中国一处豪华住宅区呆了三小时就获得50万美元，之后他就受到中国媒体的攻击。中国国家媒体质疑这位英国前首相的旋风之旅值不值这么多钱，并宣称他发表的不过是陈词滥调。

　　布莱尔在英国的发言人回击说前首相拿到多少钱“不关你的事”。这次有争议的中国东莞之旅发生在6日。布莱尔在光大集团建造的一处豪华别墅区逗留并作了演讲。

　　《广州日报（Guangzhou Daily）》报道说，除了出场费，该公司还提出给他价值3800万人民币的房子，该报谴责这是卖弄奢侈。该报没有说他是否接受了别墅，并指出收入在税后减少至33万美元。报纸指出，布莱尔的东莞之旅仅仅是中国城市赚钱之旅的一站，另外两个城市是北京和香港。

　　布莱尔似乎意识到媒体对他中国之旅的报道调子越来越敌意。当布莱尔7日在中国一个商业论坛露面时，记者被禁止进入大厅。记者获准通过视频看他的演讲，但当问答环节开始时信号就中断了。

　　《广州日报》的批评得到《中国青年报（China Youth Daily）》的应和，这份附属于共青团的报纸在评论中表示，布莱尔在东莞的演讲充满幽默，以及关于政府和商界的合作、教育、环保等的陈词滥调，但没有提供任何新的启示。评论质疑道“就像一些本地官员作的报告，他的观点中没有任何新意……这种演讲值得本地官员和企业付出一大笔钱吗？”它说中国快速变成国际名人的“掘金”市场，如今它是时候行使一些鉴别能力了。“我们应该少些浮躁和虚荣……多学些新知识、真知识——特别是当我们为此动用了纳税人哪怕一毛钱的时候。”

　　布莱尔和妻子谢丽不是第一次受到这样的声讨，他们因明显索要免费礼物、在意大利和加勒比海的私人屋苑的津贴度假以及高额的演讲费用而触怒批评者。

　　布莱尔在担任首相时要记录收到的所有礼物和度假待遇，在许多情况下，都显示他向慈善机构捐款代替付款。然而，作为一介平民，他收什么东西就不受限制了。（原标题：布莱尔三小时赚50万美元，中国谴责他是掘金者；作者：Jenny Booth）

China condemns Tony Blair as a golddigger over $500,000 fee for three-hour trip

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.

Mr Blair's spokesman in the UK has however hit back that it was "none of your business" how much the former Premier got paid.

The controversial visit to Dongguan in China’s southern province of Guangdong happened on Tuesday. Mr Blair stopped at a luxury villa compound built by Guangda Group, a property development company which sponsored his trip, and made a speech.

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.

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."

Asked to comment on the criticism, Mr Blair’s spokesman said that the tour of China had been undertaken in his capacity as a private individual and that he was no longer in the country. He said that it had been arranged through the Washington Speakers Bureau, the agency that organises Mr Blair’s commercial appearances.

He refused to confirm any further details or respond to the accusations that the former Prime Minister had not delivered value for money on his tour. Asked how much Mr Blair had earned during the trip, Matthew Doyle said: "It’s none of your business." 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.

Alongside his work in international diplomacy, Mr Blair has signed a book publishing contract worth around £5 million.

He also made his debut on the lecture circuit in the US last month. Billed by his agency as having "transformed Britain's public services" Mr Blair’s first paid engagement was in an event in Washington organised by Goldman Sachs.

Mr Blair is said to have earned around £300,000 for the tour that included appearances in California, Arizonia and Calgary in Canada.

The condemnation in China is not the first time that Mr Blair and his wife, Cherie Booth, have fallen foul of their critics for apparently courting free gifts, subsidised holidays at private estates in Italy and the Caribbean, and high fees for speaking engagements.

As an MP Mr Blair was required to record all the gifts and holidays he received in Parliament's Register of Member's Interests, and in many cases to show that he had made a 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.