China's new cultural revolution

I spot in this weeks Isle of Thanet Extra news of Mr Feng Jun's (of electronics company AIGO) visit to the isle of Thanet, and my immediate attention is drawn to the picture attaching to the article.

It shows Mr Feng Jun, in what at first appears to be fancy dress and then the after reading the caption is revealed as mayoral regalia, unfortunately it doesn't state whether it was his own or lent to him by fawning representatives of Thanet council.

Just going off at quick tangent, this all got the nuerons in my brain sparking, well glowing and for some reason, memories flooded back to a time, and I don't remember detail but I recall a local councillor in a moment of er .... decided to dress up in Arab garb and drive round Ramsgate Harbour as part of some ill thought out hoax. Of course I could be suffering from false memory syndrome and it was something I think that occurred back in the Eighties, when we were all a little less dignified than today. Anyway since many of my readers, weren't born then you'll have to ask your parents.

Right getting back to our more dignified present, lets just hope that Thanet council keep things in perspective, and show a bit more integrity than the Olympic organisation in Beijing, who seem to have surrendered as far as press freedom is concerned. For more details and balanced view I offer you The Independent view click here ""Beijing doesn't like to give the world's press an inch or the home grown China View article click here "Press freedom shall not go above laws".

Anyway just getting back to Mr Feng Juns visit, I see that various dignitaries attended although I am a little surprised that Thanet council website , make no mention on their own news pages despite one presumes close involvement with the parties concerned.

Perhaps Sandy Ezekiel and company could be a little more open in whats going on, this sort of report also sets my mind on questions of how much is this going to cost us, just briefly coming back to past events in Thanet I believe that previous enterprises have left us the public exposed to financial penalties like Ramsgate harbour, when the Sally Line disappeared, this weekend Eastcliffe Matters reports another cracker, the old M&S building in Margate looks like a new TDC financial burden of 3 million, Christ no wonder their selling our assets?

On the plus side Mr Jun's company believes you'll be reassured to know in "Freedom in technology" and "Freedom in life" , no mention about thought or speech. On the plus side, investors from China will probably not be able to prejudge us since their most likely blocked from putting a search in to google like er....england thanet councillor sandy ezekiel who knows what that would turn up.

Let just hope that before anyone gets rich quick here, that time is taken, to stop chinese business from taking a leak into our water supply, that we don't all end up looking silly, or end up bank rolling this whole scheme, just so that a handful of " business men" can make loads of money at our expense.

What is missing in all this, is what if any benefit will accrue to the local community from all this nonsense about China Gateway. A few months ago one our esteemed tory leaders had the cheek to interupt me at public meeting, and announce that this project would create 3500 jobs well perhaps someone would like to justifiy that claim.

Right now all this looks like, is a plot from a movie, its just a pity the likes of Kenneth Williams, Sid James, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Conner and their ilk are no longer with us, what a carry on! Lets have the facts now how much is this going to cost us? What jobs? For whom? Will we benefit?

Finally if the China Gateway is to succeed it has to be benifical to all concerned, clearly Mr Jun is an accomplished business man, head of a successful company AIGO who will I don't doubt be aware that doing business in europe is not the same as in China, so lets hope our local leaders also appreciate that and start opening up. I hope this enterprise succeeds, and it should, I don't doubt that Mr Jun and his countrymen will recognise the strategic benefits of the Manston location but lets hope reasonable precautions are in place to protect the local environment.