Facebook's Zuckerberg Charms Chinese Internet Regulator with President Xi's Book
Mark Zuckerberg has taken yet another step to win the hearts of Chinese government when he began reading President Xi Jinping speeches.
A news report on a Chinese government managed website, claimed that Zuckerberg hosted top Chinese internet regulator Lu Wei at the social media giant's Menlo Park office. The move is being seen as efforts to warm up to the Chinese administration whose censorship of the Internet has kept Facebook out of the country.
When Wei reportedly noticed President Xi's book 'The Governnance of China' a collection of speeches, Zuckerberg told him that he bought the book for his colleagues as well, hoping they would understand socialism with Chinese characters, Reuters reported.
Chinese website China.com has reportedly posted pictures showing Wei sitting in Zuckerberg's chair and the latter smiling for a snap. The Chinese internet regulator also visited top honchos of Apple and Amazon during his trip to the US.
According to USA Today, the move is Zuckerberg's latest in a long series of efforts to impress the Chinese including learning Mandarin, which he used with great efficiency during at University talk in China last October. Zuckerberg has maintained that his love of the Chinese culture and his wife motivated him to learn Mandarin.
"It shows a mastery of the type of sycophancy that can have results in China. Even if there is no chance in hell of Facebook operating in China in the near future, they have long-term ambitions," said Jeremy Goldkorn Beijing-based media research firm Danwei.
Wei has advocated internet freedom with caution when, for instance, he said during the World Internet Conference that the internet should be free and open while following the law.
