"In the past it formed the basis of China-watching, it was some sort of esoteric communication," said Joseph Chan, professor of mass media at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
"Some of the symbols have been done away with. It is changing," he said. "In this case, I think it is still valid to make some observations on the basis of big or important occasions such as this one."
But others say it is easy to read too much into it all.
Wu Guoguang (
"I don't see anything unusual," he said. Strict rules bind Chinese media to report on senior leaders in particular ways and list them by rank in reports.
"Every time when a newspaper publishes a piece about a high leader, there are very concrete rules to govern such coverage," he said. "Which guy should be first on the list? Which guy should be second? Who will occupy which position on which page?" he asked, adding that the rules applied to television, too.
One Western diplomat said she would be reluctant to read too much into one event or report.
"I think we've all become super sensitive now," she said.
"Six months ago if this had happened, or last year, your reaction might be `Oh, only Hu Jintao was there? What does that mean about the Taiwan issue and where it's being played?'"
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