With strong track record, Communist Party of China should be confident enough to face media - The Straits Times

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With strong track record, Communist Party of China should be confident enough to face media

(Clockwise from top left) Former premiers of China Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Wen Jiabao and Li Keqiang. PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES, LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE, AFP

BEIJING - When the feared but respected Zhu Rongji became China’s premier in March 1998, he declared at his maiden news conference that he would prepare 100 coffins as part of a renewed crackdown on corruption – 99 for unscrupulous officials and one for himself in the event that he was vindictively assassinated.

There was never a dull moment whenever Mr Zhu, who was also the country’s economic czar, met the press over the next five years. In March 2000, the no-nonsense prime minister warned Taiwanese voters ahead of a closely contested presidential election not to vote for an unspecified pro-independence candidate. But he stopped short of threatening to invade the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its own.

• China
• LI QIANG
• Li Keqiang
• Xi Jinping
• China politics
• China economy

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2024-03-09 11:00:00Z
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