Mao Zedong once described the Chinese people as "poor and blank." He saw these qualities as virtues, he said, because "on a blank sheet of paper free from any mark, the freshest and most beautiful characters can be written." Chairman Mao filled in the blankness, all too often with chaos.
In today's China, it is the top leaders who seem blank. Two years after taking power, President Hu Jintao, 62, remains an enigma to the outside world and to the Chinese he rules. Here's what we know: Hu has evinced concern for the plight of ordinary peasants; there are rumors he...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
