Don't put too much hope in new style of Chinese leadership

Imagine you were an expert in a particular field, and you were invited to present your ideas to a high- ranking government official called Secretary Wang. You took the assignment seriously and carefully prepared a speech. At the meeting, you were the first to speak, so you started with: "Respected Secretary Wang …" Before you could go on, Secretary Wang cut you off, and asked you to skip the pleasantries and get to the point. He added: "No prepared speeches are allowed in meetings with me. Do learn to think critically."

In this scene, Secretary Wang comes across as a rude bully. "Respected Secretary Wang" is no more than the usual polite greeting, while the categorical ban on reading prepared speeches is high-handed, and the lecturing tone of "learn to think critically" is something one would use with a primary school student.

But because Secretary Wang turned out to be Wang Qishan , this became a different story. It's the start of a new leadership style, Chinese and international media commentators say, and public opinion agrees. Wang is praised. Even the experts at the government meeting called it "refreshing".

A similar thing happened at a recent meeting with Li Keqiang . An official spoke for about two minutes before he was cut off by Li, who said he'd already read the speech and there was no need for the official to repeat it. Media reports said Li expected officials to attend meetings with him armed with more than a speech; they must also be prepared to respond to any questions Li may raise.

This, too, was praised by the media. Clearly at such meetings, a junior official usually reads from printed remarks his secretary has prepared, and no one listening asks any questions. So we could say that Li's insistence that officials stop reading from prepared speeches to take questions discourages laziness.

Except that Li and the other top Chinese leaders are guilty of the same. At the Communist Party congresses, and the National Party Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference meetings every year, state leaders read from prepared remarks while delegates listen. The audience may not raise any issues of importance, but must enthusiastically applaud whatever they hear. The more enthusiastic the clapping, the better.

Let's be clear: this so-called "new style of leadership" is just that - a style. To focus on a change in form is to miss the point. When it comes to ushering in a new style of writing and conducting meetings, who can compare with Mao Zedong ? His "Yanan Talks on Literature and Art" changed the thinking and writing styles of several generations of Chinese.