From the Guardian’s Richard Spencer’s blog:
Gao Yaojie is one of those remarkable Chinese people those of us lucky to have met her can use to rebut claims that in criticising things that go on here we are “bashing China”.
Dr Gao is both very Chinese and your average, everyday grandmother. After I interviewed her three years ago my assistant and I took her out for a hotpot. I over-ordered, as I always do with hotpot, and as she looked at all the raw veg and strips of mutton arrive she said: “I hope you’re going to eat all that. Think of all the hungry children who would be grateful for it.”
When I interviewed her, I found myself in an odd position. I was in Henan with the approval of the local authorities, who had arranged a meeting for me at police headquarters. Henan already had a reputation for being defensive towards the media, but the determination with which they tried to hound me back to the airport after the meeting was finished was unprecedented. [Full Text]
