The Economist
January 4, 2014
Xi Jinping gets down with the people.
In a first for a Chinese president, Xi Jinping made a New Year’s Day address to the nation on state television. The content of his speech, mainly good wishes and appeals for people to work together, broke no new ground. But the format, reminiscent of an American president in the Oval Office, hinted at a desire to find new ways for China’s leaders to interact with the people.
Mr Xi had already shown such inclinations a few days earlier when he showed up unannounced at a modest Beijing eatery. He queued for a simple lunch of pork buns, fried liver and vegetables, then carried his own tray to sit with astonished diners, the tab coming to 21 yuan ($3.50), which he paid himself.
There are sceptics, however, who suspect Mr Xi was merely posing as a man of the people, or, worse still, copying foreign politicians. America’s ambassador to China, Gary Locke, made a splash in 2011 when he was photographed carrying his own bag and buying his own coffee. Soon after, America’s vice-president, Joe Biden, visited Beijing and the restaurant where he ate had queues of people wanting the “Biden set meal”. Many have ordered the “chairman’s set meal” at Mr Xi’s bun shop, too. It may prove a good investment. The response of state-run newspapers was predictably upbeat, but even comments on China’s often-cynical social media seemed largely positive.
But perhaps Mr Xi was following an example closer to home: the 18th-century Qianlong emperor who, legend has it, kept close to the masses by donning commoners’ garb and circulating incognito. He reigned for 60 years.
