Premier Wen Jiabao's warning to the Taiwan authorities that 'the Chinese people will pay any price to safeguard the unity of the motherland' made people sit up.
In his interview with The Washington Post on November 21, the first with western journalists since becoming premier last spring, Mr Wen twice quoted Abraham Lincoln to show that Beijing's resolve to keep Taiwan a part of China is on a par with president Lincoln's efforts to prevent the United States from breaking apart in the mid-19th century.
Mr Wen also defended China's trade and currency policies, important issues which he is expected to tackle during his forthcoming trip to the US - his first official visit - which begins on Sunday.
But what has gone largely unnoticed in this wide-ranging interview is Mr Wen's discussion of Chinese domestic politics.
A closer look at what he said (and did not say) about the future of democracy in China, and how he treated some of the sensitive issues, reveal a great deal about how the new Chinese leadership is treading the turbulent waters of political reform in the world's fastest-growing economy.
Responding to the question of whether Beijing will accelerate political reform to keep pace with economic reform, Mr Wen conceded that 'without political reform, economic reform will not be successful'.
