Wen Jiabao, beginning his 10th and final year as China's premier, again called for political reform and warned that failure to make progress may bring about a tragedy, such as the eruption of another Cultural Revolution, which tore the country apart for a decade.
But the premier, speaking at the annual press conference at the end of the meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's rubber-stamp parliament, emphasized the need for gradual change, without indicating when, if ever, Chinese would be able to choose their own national leaders.
Asked about the prospect of direct elections in China, Wen, speaking slowly and deliberately, declared: “If people are able to run the affairs of a village well, eventually they'll be able to run a township, and a county.”
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