Appraising China’s leaders

    By Ji Yongyong， Clinton Foundation analyst

       Many citizens still remember the debut of one of China’s bestseller, The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin. A few years ago, customers waited outside bookstores to purchase a copy. It was the first time a biography of a living Chinese leader had been published in China. Stories of its success and influence ran in the international press.

     Since that time, author Robert Lawrence Kuhn has been working on another book that has just been released,  How China’s Leader Thinks: The Inside Story of China’s Reform and What This Means for the Future.” Mr. Kuhn spoke recently to the America-based National Committee on U.S.-China Relations about his new book and his experiences with China’s leaders.

     During his presentation, Mr. Kuhn depicted positive trends among Chinese leaders over the past 30 years in terms of reform, a progressive mindset, a diverse educational background and a strong sense of responsibility.

     He suggested that today’s leaders have a progressive sense of reform. He cited Kunming’s Communist Party Secretary Qiu He as an example. When first appointed, Mr. Qiu required top local officials to publicly list their phone numbers so that local constituents could call them directly. He pushed city administrators to be accountable and to implement transparency rules.

     Mr. Kuhn cited Bo Xilai and his journalism education as an example of a diversity of backgrounds among the current leadership.  He said earlier leaders came primarily from science and engineering backgrounds.

     Today’s leadership in China see this century as vital, he asserted. He noted a sense of responsibility to sustain development in the midst of a still-recovering global economy. He outlined a binary set of priorities focused on improving the Chinese economy and implementing reform.

     Mr. Kuhn intends to publish his new book in China both in print and in an electronic version. He expressed his hope that the book will enjoy the same popularity in China as his previous one.

     Ji Yongyong is CTW’s New York correspondent.