Lecture showed shoe hurler behind the times

On Feb 2, Premier Wen Jiabao delivered the 2008-09 Rede Lecture at Cambridge University. The prestigious Rede Lecture dates to the 16th century. Illustrious past lecturers include Archibald MacLeish, the American poet who won three Pulitzer Prizes, James Clerk Maxwell, the 19th century Scottish mathematician-physicist who gave us the indispensable electromagnetic theory, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sir Fred Hoyle, the famed Cambridge astronomer who coined the phrase "Big Bang" to help track the origin of the universe.

Like those before his, Premier Wen's lecture, "See China in the Light of Her Development", touched on basic issues of global significance: the history of development in China, the challenges ahead and the present financial crisis. It was also about the nature of Chinese culture, past and present, as the requisite context in which current development, challenges and crises are understood and answered.

As if to ensure the cultural significance of his lecture is fittingly underscored and understood, Premier Wen presented a gift of 200,000 electronic books from China to Cambridge University Library. Since China's electronic publication collection is one of the most comprehensive in the world, the Cambridge holding of Chinese books (first acquired in 1632) suddenly catapulted to some 300,000 titles, among the largest outside of China.