The desire for stability inevitably shrouds the build-up to most major Communist Party events. The approach of the 16th party congress, which opens in Beijing later this week, has been no different. Amid the bloated political pageantry, a host of issues are feared to have been swept under the deep red carpets, from rural instability to the mounting problem of non-performing loans in China's banking sector.
Yet out of the darkness before the curtain goes up on Friday comes a tiny ray of light. Yesterday's front page of the official China Daily carried a report quoting Minister of Health Zhang Wenkang as suggesting that Beijing was now eager to work with foreign experts to tackle its growing Aids and HIV problem.
Up until now, many researchers inside and outside China feared the leadership was avoiding the hard calls, even as the United Nations warned that 10 million Chinese could be infected by the end of the decade. Progress beyond the all-too-easy dismissal of the disease as a problem for drug addicts and homosexuals seemed glacial.
The detention of the nation's leading Aids activist, Wan Yanhai, in August for several weeks only heightened those fears. Now Mr Zhang - just days before the biggest party meeting in a decade - has shown a fresh desire for action. 'We have no time to lose,' he said. Furthermore, he echoed recent warnings from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who said that AIDS in China was a problem that risked 'spinning out of control'.
Significantly, Mr Zhang also mentioned the UN figures and spoke of the disease spreading among society as a whole. Such energy and honesty is to be praised and we hope it resonates in Beijing in the weeks ahead. Mr Zhang is showing that to admit this particular problem is not a deficiency, as some of his predecessors in all manner of fields may have instinctively felt.
Whether it has been the looming congress, the government's own research or the march of globalisation that has prompted the shift remains to be seen. But with commitment and sincere follow-up, Mr Zhang may well have shown that it is in fact the first step to finding real solutions. Frankness carries its own rewards.
