Prexy's speech gives English lesson
B'cast of two-hour address unusual
Rather than the usual dose of international news, viewers were instead treated to the English translation of China President Jiang Zemin's speech -- lasting almost two hours.
It was the first day of China¹s 16th Party Congress and a number of local and international stations carried state broadcaster CCTV¹s live coverage.
The President was giving what was widely considered to be his last official speech before he is expected to step down as the Communist Party's general secretary and later (March next year), as president. Still unclear is whether he'll relinquish his post as head of the military.
The seven-day Party Congress convenes every five years, and this year bears more weight than usual because the greatest change in Party leadership in more than a decade will be announced (on Nov.15, the last day of the Congress).
Not that the President was announcing it that day. In the speech, President Jiang talked about many things, among them the importance of reform for the Communist Party, the need for the private sector to drive economic growth and to advance the Party itself, and the need to eliminate corruption.
All important stuff, but carrying the full speech was still considered a strange decision for CNN by some viewers. CNBC, Singapore¹s Channel NewsAsia and the BBC dipped in and out of the speech, providing analysis and commentary as the President spoke.
"CNN International's mandate is to cover major events of the world and President Jiang Zemin's speech to Congress was an important event in modern Chinese history," explained a CNN spokesperson. "We carried it accordingly."
