Wen Jiabao

Wen Jiabao 温家宝
Wen at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (2009)
Premier of the People's Republic of China
Incumbent
Assumed office  16 March 2003
President	Hu Jintao
Deputy	Li Keqiang Hui Liangyu Zhang Dejiang Wang Qishan
Preceded by	Zhu Rongji
Born	15 September 1942 (1942-09-15) (age 67) Tianjin, China
Political party	Communist Party
Spouse(s)	Zhang Peili
Children	Wen Yunsong Wen Ruchun
Residence	Beijing
Alma mater	Beijing Institute of Geology
Profession	Geologist
Religion	Atheist
Signature

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Wen.

Wen Jiabao (simplified Chinese: 温家宝; traditional Chinese: 温家寶; pinyin: Wēn Jiābǎo; Wade-Giles: Wen Chia-pao; born 15 September 1942) is the current Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as the country's head of government and leading its cabinet. He also holds membership in the 16th and 17th Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, the country's de facto top power organ, where he is ranked third out of nine members.

Wen is a geologist and engineer by profession and holds a postgraduate degree from the Beijing Institute of Geology, where he graduated in 1968. He was subsequently sent to Gansu province for geological work, and remained in China's hinterland regions during his climb up the bureaucratic ladder. He was transferred to Beijing to work as the head of the Party General Office between 1986 and 1993, and accompanied General Secretary Zhao Ziyang to the Tiananmen Square during the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests. In 1998, he was promoted to the post of Vice Premier under Zhu Rongji, his mentor, holding the portfolios of agriculture and finance.

Since taking office as Premier of the People's Republic of China in 2003, Wen has been a key part of the fourth generation of leadership in the Communist Party of China, along with General Secretary Hu Jintao. Soft-spoken and known for his strong work ethic, Wen has been one of the most visible members of the current Chinese administration, and has been dubbed "the people's premier" by both domestic and foreign media^[1]. His populist approach to policy and his commoner image with the public separates him from the rest of China's power elite.

Early life and rise to power

A native of Beichen, Tianjin, Wen Jiabao went to the famous Nankai High School from which his predecessor premier Zhou Enlai graduated. According to his official biography, he joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in April 1965 and entered the work force in September 1967.

A postgraduate and engineer, Wen graduated in the major of geological structure at Beijing Institute of Geology. Having studied geomechanics in Beijing, he began his career in the geology bureau of Gansu province; from 1968-1978, he presided over the Geomechanics Survey Team under the Gansu Provincial Geological Bureau and head of its political section. Rising as chief of the Gansu Provincial Geological Bureau and later as Vice-minister of Geology and Mineral Resources, Wen would rise through the ranks of the Central Committee and Politburo in the 1980s and 1990s. Wen's move from Gansu to Beijing occurred while the party, then under the leadership of General Secretary Hu Yaobang, was conducting a talent search; Wen was quickly appointed to serve as the deputy in the Party General Office, an organ that oversaw day-to-day operations of the party's leaders. He remained in the post for eight years.

Wen Jiabao is the only Director of the Party's General Office to have served under three General Secretaries: Hu Yaobang, Zhao Ziyang, and Jiang Zemin^[2]. A political survivor, his most significant recovery was after 1989, when Wen accompanied General Secretary Zhao Ziyang to see demonstrating students in Tiananmen Square. His political fate was markedly more fortunate than Zhao; Zhao was purged from the party days later for "grave insubordination" and lived under house arrest in Beijing until his death in January 2005. Wen was able to survive the political aftermath of the demonstrations.

During a political career dating back to 1965, Wen has built a network of patrons. Throughout this period Wen, a strong administrator and technocrat, has earned a reputation for meticulousness, competence, and a focus on tangible results. Outgoing Premier Zhu Rongji showed his esteem for Wen by entrusting him, from 1998, with the task of overseeing agricultural, financial and environmental policies in the office of Vice-Premier, considered crucial as China prepared to enter the World Trade Organization. Wen served as Secretary of the Central Financial Work Commission from 1998 to 2002.

First-term Premiership

Wen has been the third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee, China's highest ruling council, since November 2002. During the transition of authority as Hu Jintao assumed the presidency in March 2003, Wen Jiabao's nomination as premier was confirmed by the National People's Congress with over 99% of the delegates' vote. As premier, Wen has overseen the continuation of China's economic reforms and has been involved in shifting national goals from economic growth at all costs to growth which also emphasizes more egalitarian wealth, along with other social goals, such as public health and education. In addition, the Chinese government under Wen has begun to focus on the social costs of economic development, which include damage to the environment and to workers' health. This more comprehensive definition of development has been encapsulated into the idea of a xiaokang society.

Wen's broad range of experience and expertise, especially cultivated while presiding over agricultural policies under Zhu Rongji has been important as the "fourth generation" seeks to revitalize the rural economy in regions left out by the past two decades of reform.

Initially regarded as quiet and unassuming, he is said to be a good communicator and is known as a "man of the people." Wen has appeared to make great efforts to reach out those who seem left out by two decades of stunning economic growth in rural and especially western China. Unlike Jiang Zemin and his protégés on the Politburo Standing Committee, who form the so-called "Shanghai clique", both Wen and Hu hail from, and have cultivated their political bases, in the vast Chinese interior. Many have noted the contrasts between Wen and Hu, "men of the people" and Jiang Zemin, the flamboyant, multilingual, and urbane former mayor of the country's most cosmopolitan city. Jiang, unlike the more reserved Hu and Wen, is known to quote maxims from Chinese and Western philosophy and recite poetry in many languages.

Like President Hu Jintao, whose purported brilliance and photographic memory have facilitated his meteoric rise to power, Wen is regarded as well-equipped to preside over a vast bureaucracy in the world's most populated and perhaps rapidly changing nation. In March 2003, the usually self-effacing Wen was quoted as saying, "The former Swiss ambassador to China once said that my brain is like a computer", he said. "Indeed, many statistics are stored in my brain."^[3]

Mild-tempered and conciliatory, especially compared to his predecessor, the tough, straight-talking Zhu Rongji, his consensual management style has enabled him to generate a great deal of good will, but has also created some opponents who are in support of tougher policy decisions. Notably, Wen was widely known to have clashed with then-Shanghai party chief Chen Liangyu, who disagreed with the central government's policies^[4].

Wen has been involved in a two major episodes involving public health. In early 2003, he was involved in ending the official inaction over the SARS crisis. In November 2003, he became the first major Chinese official to publicly address the problem of AIDS, which has devastated parts of the provinces of Yunnan and Henan and threatens to be a major burden on Chinese development. Since May 2004, Wen made various visits to communities devastated by AIDS, trips shown prominently on national media. By showing these actions, Wen displayed an effort to reverse years of what many activists have described as a policy of denial and inaction. Furthermore, Wen is concerned about the health and safety of previous drug addicts; since March 2004, Wen had visited several drug addict treatment facilities in southern China and addressed the issue to the patients in person, recognizing that AIDS in the region is more likely being spread by drug abuse and the reuse of hypodermic syringes than by sexual contact.

Wen was known to conduct visits to relatively poor areas of China's countryside randomly—to avoid elaborate preparations to appease officials and hide the real situation, which is done often in China. At committee meetings of the State Council, Wen made it clear that the rural wealth disparity problem must be addressed. Along with President Hu Jintao, the government focused on the "Three Rural Issues", namely, agriculture, the countryside, and farmers, and emphasized these core areas as requiring further work and development. The Hu-Wen administration abolished the thousand-year-old agricultural tax entirely in 2005, a bold move that significantly changed the rural economic model. Like his predecessor, Zhu Rongji, Wen is generally seen as a popular communist official with the Chinese public. His attitude is seemingly sincere and warm, triggering comparisons with former premier Zhou Enlai. Wen spent Chinese New Year in 2005 with a group of coal miners in a Shanxi coal mine. To many, Wen has gained the image of being the "people's premier", a populist, and an ordinary Chinese citizen who knows and understands ordinary people's needs^[5]. In an annual meeting of the Chinese Authors Association, Wen spoke for over two hours to the delegates without looking at script. To foreign media, Wen also remains the highest government figure in China to give free press conferences, often facing politically sensitive and difficult questions regarding subjects such as Taiwan Independence, Tibet and human rights.

Wen (second right) accompanied Zhao Ziyang to speak to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protestors, but unlike Zhao, was not purged in the aftermath of the crackdown.

Wen is also seen by many^{[citation needed]} as an able diplomat. In December 2003, Wen visited the United States for the first time. During the trip, Wen was able to get President George W. Bush to issue what many saw as a mild rebuke to the then-President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Chen Shui-bian. Wen has also been on visits to Canada and Australia, mostly on economic issues. Wen also visited Japan in April 2007 in what was termed the "de-thawing journey", where he characterized the relationship between the Asian powers as for "mutual benefit". He also met with Emperor Akihito and played baseball.

On 15 March 2005, after the anti-secession law was passed, by a majority of 2,896 to nil, with two abstentions by the National People's Congress, Wen famously said: "We don't wish for foreign intervention, but we are not afraid of it." as an allusion to the United States' stance on Taiwan. That earned him a long round of applause that was rare even by Chinese standards.

On 5 March 2007, Wen announced plans to increase the military budget. By the end of 2007 the military budget rose 17.8 percent compared to the previous year's 45 billion dollars. These actions have created tension with the United States.^[6]

There were rumours about Wen's retirement and reputed clashes with former Shanghai party chief Chen Liangyu before the party's 17th Party Congress. Some sources suggested that Wen would ask to retire due to fatigue. Ultimately, Wen stayed on the Premier job, and was responsible for the drafting of the important speech delivered by President Hu Jintao outlining China's direction in the next five years.

In January 2008, while China was undergoing severe snowstorms, Premier Wen made his way south and visited train stations in Changsha and Guangzhou, addressing the public while calming their mood for long train delays.

Second-term Premiership

Wen Jiabao at Tsinghua University, May 3, 2009

Premier Wen Jiabao was appointed to a second five-year term as China's premier on March 16, 2008, leading efforts to cool soaring inflation and showcase the country to the world at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He received fewer votes in favour than he did in 2003, a sign that the premiership can create enemies, even in the communist political system. Wen faces grave economic challenges as the world becomes increasingly affected by the U.S. economic crisis. Social stability and regional activism such as violence in Tibet are also require major concentration in policy.^[7] On 18 March 2008, during the press conference after the 2008 National People's Congress, Premier Wen blamed supporters of the Dalai Lama for violence in Tibet, and said Chinese forces exercised restraint in confronting unrest there.^[8] Wen was the spokesman of the Chinese government during the 2008 unrest in Tibet and refused to negotiate with the Dalai Lama and his followers, unless they chose to give up all separatist activities.

Wen also has a Facebook profile, whose authorship is unknown, that has gathered more popular support than any other non-American leader on the social networking site. Wen was the only non-American among the top five most popular politicians on Facebook before his profile was deleted by Facebook sometime around 16 June 2008 (it has since been restored, with no major changes). Despite Wen's constant presence on the national media that seems to overshadow that of his superior, Hu Jintao, there are no clear divisions between the leaders. A group of intellectuals have warned against Wen's populist approach, claiming it will affect China's economic development.^[9]

Response to Earthquake

Premier Wen Jiabao's popularity increased even more when he went to the disaster area of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake a mere few hours after the disaster occurred, where he declared on national television that survivors are to be rescued as long as there is "a glimmer of hope". He was named the Executive Director of the Earthquake Relief Efforts Committee immediately following the disaster. Following his visits to the area and images of the Premier displayed on national media, numerous videos popped up on Chinese blogs making comparisons with former Premier Zhou Enlai, who also had the title "People's Premier", Wen's popularity was noticeably boosted. When China's leaders are often shown on state television looking rather stiff and sitting motionlessly, Wen's on-site image and candid nature has attracted a large popular following of Chinese citizens^[10].

In addition, there was speculation on internet forums as well as foreign media about the availability of the scientific prediction of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and Wen was quoted as the only high-ranking Chinese leader to try to announce the scientific prediction and made it public, but was somehow prevented by other members of the all powerful Politburo Standing Committee, China's top power organ.^[11][12]

Shoeing incident in UK

Wen went on a series of official visits to Europe in February 2009, while also attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. On February 2, Wen traveled to the University of Cambridge to give the prestigious Rede Lecture. The lecture was entitled "See China in the Light of Her Development". Nearing the end of his lecture, a man later identified as a 27-year-old German national Martin Jahnke,^[13] stood from the audience, blew a whistle and shouted, "how can the university prostitute itself with this dictator here? How can you listen to these lies he's telling?" The surrounding audience reproached him with "Shame on you, shame on you" and "Get out". Jahnke then threw his shoe at Wen, missing the premier by a few feet.^[14] Jahnke was promptly removed from the lecture by University Proctors and has subsequently been arrested by Police on suspicion of breach of the peace and attempted assault.^[15] "This despicable behaviour cannot stand in the way of friendship between China and the UK," Wen commented calmly after a brief pause, receiving a round of applause from the audience and continued his lecture. ^{[14] [16]} The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alison Richard, expressed regret that the man did not show respect to the guest speaker. On February 7, Fu Ying, Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom, conveyed Wen's opinion to forgive Jahnke. ^[17]

2009 NPC

Before the 2009 National People's Congress convened, on February 28, Premier Wen Jiabao went online on video chat to answer questions hosted by China's official government website gov.cn and Chinese news agency website Xinhuanet. During the session Wen openly advocated for transparency of the government and remarked that he was somewhat nervous about the occasion. He received a wide range of questions from large numbers of online Chinese netizens and chose to answer selected questions about prominent economic issues, such as global financial breakdown.

At the Congress Wen also passed on a message of reassurance that China's growth will not dip below 8% in 2009. Wen did not introduce a new stimulus package, and played down speculation that part of the 1.18 trillion RMB central government spending was not going directly into the economy. He also expressed concern about the security of China's holdings in U.S. treasury debt. In a more unusual gesture, Wen also expressed interest to visit Taiwan, stating he would "crawl there if [he] could not walk".^[18]

North Korea

Wen Jiabao went on an official working visit to North Korea on October 4, 2009, the first time a Chinese Premier has visited North Korea since Li Peng's visit in 1993. He was greeted at the Pyongyang Airport by ailing North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. Kim rarely greets foreign dignitaries himself upon their arrival at the airport. Reuters believes this to be a show of solidarity from North Korea and that the country was serious in fostering a good relationship with China.^[19]

Political views

There is some dispute inside China, as well as in the Hong Kong and Taiwan journalistic circles regarding the political views of Wen Jiabao. Because he appears more often than President Hu Jintao in front of the press, Wen's viewpoints, although difficult to gauge in their entirety, are easier to discern than those of Hu. Generally media both inside and outside China credit Wen as "populist" and in touch with the needs of ordinary people. On most social issues Wen seems to be moderate, with his brand of policies based around societal harmony as prescribed by the Scientific Development Concept, the leading ideology of the administration.

It is also not 100% clear what are Wen's views on the subject of political reform. He has remarked that "the socialist system will continue in China for the next 100 years"^[20], although later in a Press Conference at the 2007 National People's Congress, he stated that "democracy is one of the basic goals of the socialist system". However this may be along the same line of thought, as constitutionally China does promote democracy de jure, although not in any meaningful sense. Furthermore, in an interview in September 2008, Wen acknowledged that the democratic system in China needs to be improved, where the power "truly belongs to the people" through the construction of an independent judicial system and for the government to accept criticism from the people.^[21] Wen, a former ally of disgraced Premier Zhao Ziyang, is likely supportive of the latter's political rehabilitation. However, thus far Wen has rarely mentioned Zhao. When asked by CNN whether or not China will liberalize for free elections in the next 25 years, Wen stated that it would be "hard to predict".

On the subject of Taiwan, Wen reputedly believes in gradual negotiations. Xinhua has published articles in early 2007 with Wen's name separately attributed in several articles on the direction of national development. This was suspected as a sign that Wen has some differing viewpoints to the official party line. In September 2007 Wen composed a poem on a national newspaper, subtly introducing his romantic perception about China's future development, a move lauded by overseas media.

Personal life

Wen Jiabao is married to Zhang Peili, a jewelery expert and investor, who has never appeared with Wen in public.^{[citation needed]} They have a son, Wen Yunsong, who is CEO of Unihub, a Chinese networking company, and a daughter, Wen Ruchun. He has stated that his one regret so far in life was "Never having learned to fly airplanes."

Famous quotations from the premier

Talking about Chinese fast economic growth and social justice and fairness Wen Jiabao said: "The speed of the fleet is not determined by the fastest vessel; rather it is determined by the slowest one."^[22]

• During 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, Wen's angry reply to the PLA rescue team about their delays before they boarded the rescue plane:我就一句话,是人民在养你们,你们自己看着办 Translation: I only have one sentence to say: it is the people who kept you fed, so do as you see fit.^[23]
• 一方有难 八方支援 Translation: When one corner of the world is in trouble, the whole world comes to help.
• Response to questions by CNN Fareed Zakaria on 23 September 2008:

I can also tell you on the Internet in China, you can have access to a lot of postings that are quite critical about the government. It is exactly through reading these critical opinions on the Internet that we try to locate problems and further improve our work. I don't think a system or a government should fear critical opinions or views. Only by heeding those critical views would it be possible for us to further improve our work and make further progress. I frequently browse the Internet to learn about a situation.^[24]

• Chinese: 我一直认为群众有权力知道政府在想什么、做什么，并且对政府的政策提出批评意见，政府也需要问政于民、问计于民，推进政务公开和决策的民主化。
• Translation: I always thought that people have the right to know what government is planning, and what government is currently working on; and people should have critical opinions towards government policy; government should also listen to the people, and accept suggestions from the people, and improve transparency of policy, and have democracy in government policy making.

• Chinese: 我还是想借这个机会，先要感谢农民工兄弟姐妹们，你们为中国的建设，贡献了很大的力量，许多工厂、矿山，一些繁重的岗位，你们常年坚守在那里，城市的高楼大厦是你们盖的，最重、最脏、最累、最危险的活是你们干的。
• Translation: I like to take the opportunity, to say thanks to peasants-migrant-workers, who are like our brothers and sisters, who have contributed immensely towards the reconstruction of China; years after years, you work in factories, mines; all those high-rise buildings were built by you; you take in all those most heavy, most dirty, most tiresome, and most dangerous jobs.

See also

• Politics of the People's Republic of China
• History of the People's Republic of China (2002–present)
• Hu-Wen Administration

References

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External links

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• Wen Jiabao at Facebook
• Wen Jiabao biography @ China Vitae, the web's largest online database of China VIPs
• The Age - Who is Wen Jiabao?
• How to pronounce Wen Jiabao
• Wen says China's reforms irreversible

Links to related articles v • d • e Members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Hu Jintao · Wu Bangguo · Wen Jiabao · Jia Qinglin · Li Changchun · Xi Jinping · Li Keqiang · He Guoqiang · Zhou Yongkang v • d • e Premiers of the People's Republic of China Zhou Enlai · Hua Guofeng · Zhao Ziyang · Li Peng · Zhu Rongji · Wen Jiabao v • d • e Senior officials of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Premier Wen Jiabao Vice Premiers Li Keqiang • Hui Liangyu • Zhang Dejiang • Wang Qishan State Councilors Liu Yandong • Liang Guanglie • Ma Kai • Meng Jianzhu • Dai Bingguo Secretary-General Ma Kai