Shoe Politics: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Gets the Shoe Treatment at Cambridge

Give them the shoe appears to be replacing the boot as a standard in politics. In a scene reminiscent of the Iraqi shoe thrower and George Bush, a protester at Cambridge University threw a sneaker at at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and called him a dictator. As if to prove the dictator point, the Chinese media was promptly ordered not to mention the incident in any coverage to keep the Chinese people in the dark about the story. The video of the incident is below.

The man blew a whistle during Wen remarks and shouted “You should be ashamed of yourselves. How can you listen to the lies he’s telling?”

The protester’s trainer landed a few feet from Wen. The protester was arrested for committing a public order offense.

A comparison of the footwear shows that Wen got off lightly. The Turkish made shoe used on Bush had much more throw weight than this wimpy trainer.

Notably, the man in Cambridge was reportedly released after his charge while Muntadhar al-Zeidi is still in jail and seeking asylum.

For a copy of the video, click here.

For the full story, click here and here.