Shimon Peres will do an Internet interview and meet with the Chinese president during his visit to Beijing for the Summer Olympics.
The Israeli president will arrive Thursday afternoon in the Chinese capital and tour the Olympic Village, where he will meet with members of the Israeli Olympic delegation, who arrived earlier this week.
At the home of Israeli Ambassador to China Amos Nadai, he will talk to Chinese business leaders about trade before returning to his hotel, which is close to the National Stadium so he can walk to the opening ceremony on Friday night without desecrating his Shabbat observance.
On Friday morning, Peres will meet Dr. Charles Zhang, the founder and CEO of Sohu.com, one of China’s largest Internet companies and an official sponsor of the Beijing Games. Zhang will interview Peres, asking questions in English while a simultaneous Chinese transcript is generated.
The interview will then be broadcast on Sohu.com, which is the Internet host of the official Beijing Olympic Web site, Beijing2008.com.
“Normally heads of state only do television and newspaper interviews, but on my list, the Sohu.com appearance was the most important item,” said Guy Kivetz, press officer for the Israeli Embassy in Beijing.
Peres plans to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People and make an appearance on Chinese Television’s CCTV News before participating in the opening ceremony.
Peres will join Saturday evening Tisha B’Av services held by Beijing Chabad Rabbi Shimon Freundlich.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
