Speak Fluent Mandarin Like PM Kevin Rudd 陆克文

陆克文 Lù Kèwén

Nov. 24, 2007, Kevin Rudd won the election as a new Prime Minister amongst the long-heard voices for the change of Australian government.

Kevin Rudd adopted the Chinese name 陆克文 (pinyin: Lù Kèwén). MANDARIN-speaking Kevin Rudd spoke of his life as a diplomat in China, his love for the booming country, and his family’s close ties to the region.

Just a day after Mr Howard tied his fortunes to George W. Bush and the US, Mr Rudd made it clear that the rising Asian superpower was the focus of his affection. Speaking fluently to the Chinese leader in his own language, Mr Rudd upstaged Mr Howard’s announcement of Australia’s single biggest export contract.

Mr Rudd impressed China’s President Hu Jintao with his grasp of the language, talking to him in Mandarin during a 30-minute meeting at APEC conference. There were gasps of surprise and numerous compliments by overseas media at the luncheon when Mr Rudd used the language to welcome Mr Hu to Sydney during a luncheon hosted by Prime Minister John Howard. Mr Hu complimented Mr Rudd on his fluency and thanked him for his commitment to developing the Australia-China relationship.

When Napoleon’s Empire spread from the Atlantic coast of Spain to the outskirts of Moscow, French became the lingua franca and the language of international diplomacy. It was the language of Empire, as France was the world’s imperial power. The military rise of Great Britain in the 19th century and the United States in the 20th century made English the language of business (and of Empire). Will Mandarin ever be the language of business? Or of Empire? It’s all Greek to us, but kudos to Rudd.

Kevin Rudd is a China expert 中国通 (pinyin: Zhongguo tong). He worked in China as a diplomat with his family in the 1980s. Today, his elder son is studying at FUDAN University in Shanghai, and his younger son who is in a senior high school starts to learn Chinese language too. Personaly, Rudd showed great interests in Chinese history and culture when he as quite young, he studied Chinese history and Chinese language at the Australian National University in Canberra, and pursuited further learnig at Taiwan Normal Univeristy later on.

Russian Present Putin asked his daughter to learn Chinese Kungfu for his unique interests in China. But PM Rudd is the only leader from the western countries who can speak fluent Chinese language up to now.  It is more intersting that Kevin Rudd adopted the Chinese name 陆克文 (pinyin: Lù Kèwén) , a very nice creation according to the similar pronunciation of his English name:  LU 陆 for RUDD as the family name, and KEWEN 克文 for Kevin as the given name. Just from his creation for the Chinese name, you may find out that he has a great grasp of the world language of a new empire.

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