VIP

Telecom Asia, Dec, 2004

VIP: The unexpected appearance of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at PT/Expo Comm China 2004 in Beijing turned out to be a showstopper event--literally. Overseas organizer E.J. Krause and Associates was forced to shut down the event early on October 27 after word came that Wen would be accompanying Minister of Information Industry Wang Xudong during a walk-through of the exhibition.

"They needed four hours to do a security sweep of the grounds, so we were only told at noon today that they would get everyone out by 2:30," said Grant Johnson of E.J. Krause.

Staff stopped issuing new tickets around 12:30 pm, and security personnel had most of the exhibition area by 2 pm--though not without effort, as most visitors and exhibitors ignored announcements that the show would be closing soon.