During a press conference in Zhongnanhai (中南海) this October, Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) criticized Hong Kong journalists for asking inappropriate questions. On Nov. 11, during his trip to Brunei for the APEC summit, however, Chinese officials suddenly notified the media that Jiang would be very pleased to be interviewed by them. Since the offer came very suddenly, only reporters from four major Hong Kong TV channels and two Hong Kong radio stations were able to take advantage of it.
During the interviews, Jiang was all smiles as he answered each reporter's questions, in a bid to improve the damage to his public image done by his Zhongnanhai railings. As he left after the interviews, however, he ruined the effect by asking the reporters, "Are you satisfied this time?" He was, to use an old Chinese saying, "drawing a snake with feet." (畫蛇添足 -- doing something superfluous).
The interviews reeked of Jiang's desire to show off; they were hypocritical and only worsened his public image.
When comparing the three top Chinese leaders, many Beijing residents call Jiang an "actor" (
I believe the main reasons why Jiang "changes faces" are:
One, his public image was seriously damaged by the Zhongnanhai press conference. Not only did local TV stations cover the interview live, but the international media also criticized his reaction to the Hong Kong reporters' questions, forcing Jiang, who is so eager to build a good international image, to change his attitude in order to alter his image as a "tyrant."
Two, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, 全國政協) chairman, Li Ruihuan (李瑞環), was very friendly to the local media when he visited Hong Kong earlier this month. In the eyes of the Hong Kong people and media, Li's attitude was much better than Jiang's. Jiang has had a hard time accepting that Zhu is more popular than he is. It has been harder still to accept that Li's popularity was higher than his too. No wonder he has resorting to "changing faces."
Perhaps Jiang was trying to use the press conferences to train these Hong Kong journalists in order to make them his personal tools and to have them at his beck and call. If so, Jiang should not have asked the journalists whether they were satisfied. On the contrary, the journalists should have asked Jiang whether he was satisfied.
During the interview in Brunei, however, when asked whether it was a good time for Beijing to start negotiations with Taiwan, Jiang said that he was not sure since Taiwan's political scene was unstable. An Apple Daily (蘋果日報) editorial, therefore warned Taiwan that now might be a great time for China to invade. As I understand, some advisors at Beijing think-tanks and overseas have suggested that Jiang launch a war against Taiwan now. From my point of view, Jiang does not have the guts to do so. But Taiwan needs to be very wary of the possibility.
Paul Lin is a political commentator on Hong Kong affairs currently living in the US.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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