For a few moments during his annual press conference in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Wen Jiabao, Chinese premier and third-ranking member of the ruling Communist party, almost sounded like a pro-democracy liberal.
“A people’s government should accept the democratic supervision of the people . . . Only if a government is subject to the supervision of the people will it not dare to be indolent,” Mr Wen said. Every Chinese citizen enjoyed full “freedom of expression and publication”, he added.
