Advertisement
Advertisement
Jiang Zemin
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more

A burst of O Solo Mio from Hu will be music to American ears

Jiang Zemin

This month four years ago, then-vice-president Hu Jintao made his debut as China's leader-in-waiting in Washington, allowing a rare opportunity for senior US officials and the American public to take his measure.

The fact that Mr Hu's visit resurrected and popularised a comedy routine - 'Who is Hu?' - on the internet, in which the American President George W. Bush supposedly played dumb and repeatedly asked about 'Hu [who]?', said a lot about how little he was known to the outside world.

Tomorrow Mr Hu is scheduled to head for Seattle in his first trip to the United States as China's undisputed leader. Unlike his familiarisation trip four years ago, when he largely shunned direct contact with the American public and arranged no events that made for high-profile photo opportunities, Mr Hu should be more confident and assertive this time.

He will be the guest of honour at a lavish dinner to be held at the US$100 million lakeside mansion of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, line up at least three high-profile speeches in Seattle, Washington and Yale University in Connecticut, hold the summit with his American counterpart and schedule a meeting with China watchers.

As China's rise and its resounding impact on the world are very much one of the hottest topics, US officials, businessmen and China watchers will surely hang on his every word to help them detect more clues about the future and direction of China's developments.

No doubt, they will also try to get a better understanding of the man who will steer China forward at least until 2012.

Maybe this is the time President Hu should relax his serious persona and show more of his informal side, which is less scripted and more spontaneous. This would score well with the American public and officials there - who respect and treasure personality and individuality - and show off his qualities as an international statesman.

When ex-president Jiang Zemin visited the United States as the head of state, he was filmed swimming in Hawaii, and in his last visit in October 2002, the 76-year-old burst into song at the end of the banquet and coaxed senior US officials into joining his musical celebration. All this had gone down well with the Americans.

By contrast, Mr Hu has come across as much more reserved and serious in public since he came to power in 2002.

As Kenneth Lieberthal, a leading China specialist, pointed out in a Sunday Morning Post story yesterday, Mr Hu is 'completely buttoned down' and 'has a tendency to use a lot of stock phrases that are politically correct'.

Indeed, well known for his photographic memory, Mr Hu usually speaks without notes and rarely deviates from script. His every move and every word in public are meticulously planned beforehand.

While this shows off the quality of precision required of an engineer by training, it also creates everlasting impressions of Mr Hu being 'scripted'.

Nobody expects Mr Hu to become Mr Jiang, who led a chorus of O Solo Mio in Italian during his last American visit, or to imitate British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who sang a Beatles number during his meeting with a group of mainland students while on his previous visit to China.

But Mr Hu showing off his informal side could help win over more Americans than would simply opening up chequebooks and placing orders for US$15 billion worth of goods.

Post