American readers, pardon me for my previous ignorance of who Charlie Rose is. Aside from not watching TV that much, I didn't even own a set while I was studying in the States. Also, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) is not widely available internationally, especially compared to CNN. Of course, Larry King's choice of guests is, shall we say, more pedestrian than that of Rose (though the OJ/Buttafuoco set may disagree). I recently came across some of Rose's work and have been much impressed by the highbrow guests he often features as well as the generally intelligent questions he usually asks--two things you don't see much of on today's TV.
Anyway, the clip above features Rose in Beijing interviewing Jesse Wang, chairman of the state-owned Jianyin Investment Company. Wang is also part of the management team at the PRC's newish China Investment Company (CIC). I have poked fun at the $200B fund's investment in the sinking stock of private equity operator the Blackstone Group, but the interview is instructive nonetheless. Wang explains that the CIC has been on the drawing board for quite some time in Party circles. He then elaborates on the logic driving SWFs such as portfolio diversification and the quest for better returns before turning to why the rest of the world does not have to fear the CIC buying up the rest of the world, especially for political motivated purposes.
There are several other clips that are worth watching as well for sinologists on Rose's website. It seems he has done several interviews regarding China's economic rise. His guests include He Ya-Fei, assistant minister for foreign affairs; Ted Fishman, author of China, Inc.; Robert Zoellick before he became World Bank president who has commented on China's need to address "stakeholder" concerns; Henry Paulson who's currently busy with the third China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue; and Singapore's PM Lee Hsien-Long who's a keen observer of China. It's good stuff worth watching. Fortunately, most of Rose's interviews are available online for viewing. I look forward to watching more informative clips...
