On the evening of September 2, 1986, Xinhua News Agency broadcast a text message with only more than 100 words. It talked about the exclusive interview Deng Xiaoping had with CBS "60 Minutes" program reporter Wallace in Zhongnanhai that morning.
In this interview, Deng Xiaoping answered Wallace's questions about China's economic reform, Sino-US relations, Sino-Soviet relations, etc., which attracted the attention of major media around the world.
Picture | Wallace
There is no doubt that Wallace is indeed a pioneer, because in the past, only Italian journalist Farage had interviewed Deng Xiaoping.
Of course, Wallace would not have thought that just over ten years later, he would also interview another outstanding leader of China, Jiang Zemin.
These two interviews later became benchmark interviews in the history of world journalism, and also made Wallace a well-known reporter.
一
On April 7, 2012, Wallace died of illness in Connecticut, USA, at the age of 92. It is said that US President Nixon invited Wallace to be his secretary, but he refused without hesitation.
"I still want to be a reporter for the rest of my life."
Wallace not only said this, but also did it.
Because they both interviewed Deng Xiaoping, people often evaluate Farage and Wallace together.
There is no doubt that the interview skills of the two are very high, and their styles are very similar, both are very emotional, even aggressive. The only subtle difference is that Wallace's language can sometimes be humorous, while Farage's language style is very sharp.
"Strength and warmth coexist" is Wallace's main interview style.
Of course, most of the time, Wallace will not give the interviewee any face.
Picture | Deng Xiaoping and Wallace
For example, during the interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the questions asked were so sharp and continuous that Ahmadinejad had to stop the interview. When interviewing US President Reagan, Wallace launched a series of continuous questions about "racist tendencies", which made it difficult for Reagan, a Hollywood actor. to parry; interviewing the famous American singer Barbra Streisand whether she is often called a "bitch". This "questioning" interview style made the female star cry on the spot...
The advertising slogan specially designed for Wallace by CBS in the program "60 Minutes" is:
"What four words in English make liars and scoundrels most frightened? The answer is: "Mike Wallace is here." ( Mike Wallace is here) "
Since the show "60 Minutes" began, Wallace has interviewed many important and well-known figures, and also chatted and laughed with seven US presidents. Only George W. Bush refused Wallace's interview. This made Wallace, who always spoke sharply, directly sarcastically say:
"Except for Lincoln, there is a president who always sits in the same place (the statue of Lincoln is seated)."
The only thing that surprised Wallace was that Deng Xiaoping accepted his interview.
Picture | Italian journalist Farage shakes hands with Deng Xiaoping
Many years later, Wallace talked about his interview with Deng Xiaoping.
In early 1986, Wallace came to China on the recommendation of his friend Cindy Rittingberg. After appreciating a series of developments and changes in China after its reform and opening up, he suddenly wanted to interview Deng Xiaoping:
"Why not directly interview the initiators of this reform?"
Wallace submitted an application to the relevant Chinese authorities in the name of the "60 Minutes" program team, but CBS executives informed Wallace that it was best not to have hope in this matter, after all, they knew The situation is that Deng Xiaoping himself does not pay attention to fame and rarely accepts interviews.
But things went unexpectedly smoothly. A month later, Wallace received a reply from the relevant departments, saying that Deng Xiaoping was willing to be interviewed.
For this interview, Wallace collected a lot of relevant information in advance, talked with some people who had met Deng Xiaoping, and carefully prepared more than 20 questions. This has also been Wallace's habit.
At the beginning of the interview, after the two guests were seated, Deng Xiaoping took out a cigarette from a box of "Panda" brand cigarettes on the table next to him:
"I can smoke."
The 68-year-old Wallace beside him also said:
"Can you give me one?"
What's interesting is that when Wallace took it and took a look, he found that the cigarette filter was very long. Deng Xiaoping laughed:
"This is specifically for me. I can't change my bad habit of smoking."
Picture | Wallace and Deng Xiaoping
This simple and subtle move was often talked about later.
Throughout the conversation, Wallace continued to follow his previous style, but Deng Xiaoping remained calm and composed. Many years later, when Wallace talked about Deng Xiaoping again, he praised him without hesitation: "He is a great man."
"His wisdom, open-minded attitude in the face of setbacks, pragmatic spirit, and straightforward speaking style fascinated the West."
It was also because of this meeting with Deng Xiaoping that Wallace formed an indissoluble bond with China.
Many years later, when Wallace came to China again, his interviewee had changed from Deng Xiaoping to Jiang Zemin.
In 1998, the CBS "60 Minutes" column team formally applied for an interview with Chinese President Jiang Zemin through a public relations company and the Chinese Consulate General in New York.
After fully evaluating the feasibility of the interview, the Chinese Consulate General in New York forwarded the report to the country. The State Council Information Office specifically tasked the Director of the Third Bureau Ren Yinong to take charge of the matter.
China has made quite sufficient preparations. Although this matter has been well established many years ago, when it comes to specific matters, sufficient preparations are still needed. The State Council Information Office collected previous interview videos of Wallace interviewing heads of state, and also analyzed a series of topics that Wallace might mention during the interview.
In the end, when the Third Bureau of the State Council Information Office submitted its report to the Central Committee, it was allowed to be interviewed by Wallace. The report further pointed out:
"Tell the West with facts and reality: the Chinese are not green-faced, fanged, unkind monsters."
At the same time, after a meeting and discussion, the relevant departments decided to give the other party a four-hour interview time in accordance with the treatment promised by the United States for broadcast.
The person in charge of the State Council Information Office later communicated this matter with Jiang Zemin. After consideration, Jiang Zemin finally decided:
"There is no time limit or question limit for the on-the-spot interview with Wallace."
Although China agreed to Wallace's request for an interview, due to the "1998 Flood" and the US bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia in 1999, the interview could only be postponed.
Until the beginning of 2000, the 84-year-old Wallace once again wrote to the Central Publicity Board and the Consulate General in New York, discussing the interview. China also considered that it needed a more ideal platform for its leaders to appear in the West, so it agreed to Wallace's request for an interview.
二
On August 11, 2000, Wallace led eight members of the "60 Minutes" film crew to arrive in China four days in advance and stayed at the Beidaihe Diplomatic Hotel under the arrangement of the Chinese side.
For this interview with Wallace, China also made a lot of preparation work, including part of the preparations that started two years ago. More importantly, China planned a specific and detailed process for the Wallace interview in 1998, but these processes were not used in the 2000 interview.
At that time, the West did not have a deep understanding of China, so the entire attitude was full of arrogance and misunderstanding. Americans compared Beidaihe to China's "Camp David" (the resort of the US president and a unique place for American diplomacy).
Breaking Western prejudices and misunderstandings is the main purpose of China's acceptance of this interview.
According to the staff meeting who had personally experienced this interview, the U.S. side also attached great importance to this interview and conducted an on-site survey of the venue before the interview. The U.S. crew noticed that the chair backs in the interview room were very high. After filming, the top rungs of the chair backs would appear on the back of the interviewee's neck. After receiving feedback from the U.S. side, the Chinese side adjusted the chair backs overnight.
Wallace even knew all about the 7 pairs of glasses Jiang Zemin wore, and suggested that on the day of the interview, Chairman Jiang could wear the narrow-rimmed Italian glasses, which would have better effects.
html On the afternoon of August 15, Wallace’s interview officially began. After a brief 30-minute interview outdoors, the two parties entered the room.
Of course, outdoor interviews are relatively simple, and the real confrontation actually starts indoors.
Wallace still followed the aggressive style of the past and asked many special questions, but Jiang Zemin was always unhurried. The two sides were sometimes tit-for-tat, but sometimes humorous.
Wallace quoted the words published in " China Daily " and asked:
"What do you think of the statement that the United States is a threat to world peace?"
Jiang Zemin replied:
"Frankly speaking, because of its strong economy and technological advancement, the United States tends to overestimate its position in the world. But today I would like to take this opportunity to convey my message to the American people. of goodwill. So I don't want to use too many sharp words in our conversation. "
Picture | Comrade Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin once made an appropriate metaphor when talking about Sino-US relations:
"Of course, there are ups and downs, sometimes cloudy, sometimes even dark clouds, sometimes cloudy and sunny. ”
The conversation between the two was unhurried and progressed bit by bit.
Wallace then asked:
"Do you believe that the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia was accidentally bombed?"
Late at night on May 7, 1999 at 23:45 (At 5:45 a.m. on May 8, China time), the United States-led NATO used B-2 stealth bombers to drop five JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack Munitions), which hit the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia at No. 3 Sakura Road, Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Shao Yunhuan and " Guangming Daily " reporters Xu Xinghu and Zhu Ying were killed on the spot, and dozens of others were injured. One of the five explosives did not go off due to a malfunction until it was taken out and destroyed by Serbian and Montenegrin authorities five years later.
After the incident, China strongly condemned the United States and believed that it was a deliberate bombing. However, NATO later explained that the bombing was an "accidental bombing" because they used an outdated "map provided by the CIA."
Jiang Zemin clearly said to Wallace:
"With the top technology of the United States, all claims about 'accidental bombing' are unconvincing. Moreover, the signage of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade is so clear that it is impossible to be confused. So, why did the 'accidental bombing' happen?" It is still a problem until now. President Clinton has apologized to me for the explosion many times. I told him: Since you represent the United States and I represent China, we cannot achieve 100% consensus on this issue.
In addition, during the conversation between the two, they also talked about a situation that concerned both China and the United States, that is, the Li Wenhe case.
三
Li Wenhe is a Chinese-American and a well-known fluid dynamics expert. He was born in Nantou County, Taiwan, China in 1939. He went to the United States for further study in the mid-1960s and obtained American citizenship in 1974. In 1978, he entered the Los Alamos National Laboratory to work.
Life at this point should have been smooth sailing.
But in early March 1999, Li Wenhe suddenly received a dismissal notice from the U.S. Department of Energy on the grounds that he violated "security regulations." More importantly, just a few days later, the " New York Times " published the news:
"In Los Angeles, New Mexico, the United States." At the U.S. Department of Energy's National Research Institute in Ramos, a "Chinese spy" was suspected of leaking U.S. micro-nuclear warhead secrets to China. "
Picture | Li Wenhe
When Li Wenhe was preparing to seek legal support at home, he was arrested by the FBI in September and charged with 59 charges including improper handling of weapons secrets.
Why do you want Li Wenhe? This starts with the U.S. Department of Energy.
In 1995, Notola Trulock, a counterintelligence director at the U.S. Department of Energy , obtained a report called KSAG (Like-minded Analysis Group). The report talked about China's progress in the field of nuclear weapons technology and declared:
"If China relies solely on its own nuclear scientists It is impossible to complete the triple jump with the strength of the United States. Therefore, there must be American technology to cheer up here."
As a scientist, Li Wenhe has been to Beijing to participate in academic conferences more than once. However, after returning to the United States, he did not explain his whereabouts in China in accordance with regulations, so he was suspected. From the perspective of the United States, it is entirely possible that Li Wenhe communicated with Chinese scientists on certain matters when he went to China.
Picture | "Cox Report"
In fact, shortly after the U.S.-led NATO bombed Yugoslavia, the U.S. Congress threw out the "Cox Report" concocted by the Joint Investigative Committee headed by Representative Christopher Cox, claiming that China had endangered U.S. security by stealing U.S. military technology.
What is ridiculous is that this sworn report is full of uncertain words such as "maybe", "seems to be", "probably" and "maybe".
In May 1999, the Information Office of the State Council of China held a press conference and sternly pointed out that the Cox report was pure nonsense and that it was thrown out with "ulterior motives."
After Li Wenhe was arrested, the FBI found nothing during the subsequent year-and-a-half investigation and evidence collection.
When Li Wenhe was arrested in prison, he repeatedly thought about the reason for his misfortune and came up with his own answer. He wrote this in his autobiography "My Country Tells Me":
"No matter how smart they are, no matter how hard they work, Asians like me, Chinese Americans like me, will never be accepted by American society and will always be 'foreigners.'"
Li Wenhe's series of experiences in the United States also attracted the attention of the world.
When Wallace interviewed Jiang Zemin, he talked about Li Wenhe's experience. Jiang Zemin said:
"I can tell you frankly that China has nothing to do with Li Wenhe's case. The Chinese regard Li Wenhe as a reputable scientist."
Picture | Comrade Jiang Zemin
"Isn't he a spy?" Wallace asked again.
"Do you think he is a spy?" Jiang Zemin asked.
The matter has long been publicized. Needless to say, as early as November 1999, the US government stated that it would not seek to prosecute Lee Wenhe for "espionage" because there was insufficient evidence to prove that Lee Wenhe leaked nuclear secrets.
On September 14, 2000, the case was hastily concluded due to insufficient evidence, and Li Wenhe was released in court. Six years later, Li Wenhe reached a settlement with the US federal government and five newspapers including , the Associated Press, , and the New York Times, and received compensation.
Seeing that Wallace was silent, Jiang Zemin smiled:
"This is the first time I have noticed that you have encountered a problem."
Wallace nodded and admitted:
"Yes, that's right, maybe I shouldn't answer."
The whole interview process went smoothly. Jiang Zemin was sometimes funny and sometimes serious. He is a talented leader, proficient in English and Russian, and even Spanish , so the communication between him and Wallace was smooth.
It is said that the conversation between the two made the staff who listened to the interview through the dedicated line almost couldn't sit still:
"Let the Americans stop, the questions are too much."
Although the Chinese side had predicted in advance the questions that Wallace might raise during the interview and succeeded in getting more than 90% of them right, there were still some questions that were unacceptable to listeners.
After the first videotape was finished, Jiang Zemin walked out of the interview room to take a rest. Ren Yinong, then director of the Third Bureau of the State Council Information Office, came up to express his concerns outside the venue, but Jiang Zemin replied:
"They can't stand it anymore? We invited them here. We agreed, 'No time limit, no time limit. If you have limited questions, you should keep your promise. Let him ask."
Wallace's language style was as sharp as ever. He even interrupted Chairman Jiang Zemin several times and said unceremoniously:
"Remember our agreement, please keep your answer brief."
President Jiang Zemin, who was always smiling, responded to him:
"You broke the rules first. My answer is roughly as long as your question."
Picture | On September 7, 2000, the summit of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council initiated by China was held in New York.
The entire interview was highly recognized by the Chinese side afterwards and was considered "a major breakthrough in China's external propaganda." In the 2003 "Television External Propaganda Strategy and Case Analysis," Wallace's interview with Jiang Zemin was included in the " National Radio and Television Administration Social Science Research Project."
"You are now popular on American TV shows."
On September 6, 2000, Jiang Zemin attended the United Nations Millennium Summit and met with then US President Clinton. When the heads of state had lunch together, Clinton said apologetically:
"Wallace was mean to us, but you made him purr like a child with contentment."
After the meeting, CNN mentioned the above details in a report to show that in the minds of the American media and Clinton himself, Jiang Zemin's performance in the interview with Wallace was affirmed.
Clinton has also been interviewed by Wallace in the past, and was frustrated because the third question of Wallace's interview with him was:
"Are you a gangster? How could you do that kind of thing with an unmarried girl on the sacred desk of the White House ?"
(Interested friends can check Clinton's information, I won't go into details here)
Picture | Robert Lauren Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation in the United States and author of "He Changed China: A Biography of Jiang Zemin", also talked about Wallace in a recent interview with Xinhua News Agency Interviewed Jiang Zemin and said:
"Jiang Zemin's confident, witty and humorous answers when he was interviewed by the well-known American TV host Mike Wallace in 2000 helped Americans understand a more real China."
