Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendy Deng are in Beijing for a little shmoozing, perhaps connected with News Corp’s increasingly frequent noises about wanting to bring MySpace.com to China. This is how the People’s Daily reported it:
Liu Yunshan, head of the Public Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said Friday that he hoped media mogul Rupert Murdoch will make more efforts to enhance cooperation with Chinese media.
In meeting with Murdoch, Liu, also member of the Political Bureau and of the Secretariat of CPC Central Committee, appreciated the active work Murdoch has done in advancing cooperation with China’s news media.
Liu said he hoped News Corp. will continue to promote understanding between China and the rest of the world.
Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp., said his company will further strengthen cooperative ties with the Chinese media and make contributions to publicize the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Murdoch and his party were invited by the Information Office of the State Council to visit the country from Nov. 9 to 12.
Danwei has one word of advice for our mentor Mr Murdoch about bringing MySpace to China: Don’t!
The Chinese Internet is a shark tank, and MySpace would be eaten alive by everyone from Sina and Mop to Wangyou and Tudou to Tianya, Douban, Xici Hutong and Bokee.
Build or buy something locally: there are plenty of promising startups, and a few mature web businesses that News Corp could partner with.