http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... China.htmlIn a rare interview, aired on CNN on Sunday, Mr Wen said: "I believe I and all the Chinese people have such conviction that China will make continuous progress and the people's wishes and need for democracy and freedom are irresistible. I hope you will be able to gradually see the continuous progress of China."
He added: "In spite of some resistance I will advance within the realm of my capabilities political restructuring."
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China's internet: the wild, wild East
Asked about censorship, the 68-year-old Mr Wen added: "I believe freedom of speech is indispensable for any country, a country in the course of development and in a country that has become strong." He insisted that there was freedom to criticise the Chinese government on the internet, where he said he had often seen views aired that were sharply critical of officials.
The Communist Party has ruled without opposition in China since 1949, imprisoning scores of political activists and dissidents. While China made vital economic reforms in the late 1970s to allow a more market-based economy, the Party has not yet made accompanying political reforms.
Mr Wen added the caveat that any reforms now "must be conducted within the range allowed by the constitution and the laws. So that the country will have a normal order."
The interview marks the third time in recent weeks that Mr Wen has raised the topic of political reform.
At the beginning of September, Mr Wen said on a visit to Shenzhen that "Without the safeguard of political reform, the fruits of economic reform would be lost and the goal of modernisation would not materialise". He also called for a loosening of the "excessive political control" of the Communist party.
In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last week, Mr Wen said that "While deepening economic restructuring, we will also push forward political restructuring." In the past, the Communist party has repeatedly promised political reforms but has failed to deliver any substantive changes. The party also often uses the phrase "democracy" simply to refer to greater public participation in decision-making, without universal suffrage.
Notions in the run up to the 17th National Party Congress in October 2007 that there might be reforms were dashed when the government chose to focus on stability and security in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic games and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong.
However, Mr Wen's decision to once again air the topic, and to a major international television network, may confirm that reform is back on the government agenda.
Some observers have commented that there may be a split between Mr Wen and Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, over the issue. Mr Hu has not recently mentioned any prospect of political reform.
"[Mr Wen] admitted there is inner party disagreement over political reform," said Victor Shih, a professor of Chinese politics at Northwestern University.
Nevertheless, by airing the idea of political reform in public, Mr Wen has opened up space for a debate in the Chinese media. Hu Shuli, the pioneering editor of Century Weekly, a Chinese magazine, recently argued that China "cannot wait" any longer for reforms to its political system. "The sense of personal independence is growing among our citizens, as is consciousness of their rights and the appetite for participation in current affairs," she said.
As one of the leading figure in the Chinese leadership that actually tried to push for political reforms, it's going to be a sad thing to see him stepping down in 2012.
Sadly, it seems that the conservative faction of the CCP managed to censor the interview and the speech made by Wen.
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/46169BEIJING, Friday 8 October 2010 (AFP) - Chinese web users are complaining about an apparent news blackout over a rare foreign interview given by Premier Wen Jiabao, in which he spoke about political reform and freedom of speech.
In the wide-ranging CNN interview with journalist Fareed Zakaria, Wen touched on a variety of topics often seen as taboo, while insisting that the ruling Communists in Beijing were adapting.
So far, China's tightly controlled state media have only published a commentary on Wen's interview, analysing Zakaria's interview style without once quoting the premier.
But Wen's words are not hard to find on the Chinese Internet, popping up on various homegrown Twitter-like microblogging services and sparking an outburst of posts.
"Grandpa Wen made a shocking speech about reform on CNN, but it was blocked by the country's main media outlets! Grandpa Wen, you are not fighting alone," a user named Shuyu wrote on sina.com's popular microblogging service.
"We are with you heart to heart."
Another user nicknamed Garuda wrote: "The people could not even listen to the words of their premier. Even he himself does not have freedom of speech."
In the interview aired Sunday, Wen acknowledged the difficulties of balancing the desires of China's 1.3 billion people with the need to maintain order across the vast, ethnically diverse country.
"I believe freedom of speech is indispensable for any country, a country in the course of development and a country that has become strong," Wen, who is a popular father figure in China, told CNN.
"I believe, I and all the Chinese people have such a conviction, that China will make continuous progress and the people's wishes for and needs for democracy and freedom are irresistible," he said.
"I hope that you will be able to gradually see the continuous progress of China."
China now has at least 420 million people online, giving it the world's largest web population -- a fact that Wen trumpeted during the interview.
But some web pages that carried excerpts of the interview have since been blocked. China's vast army of government censors removes any web content deemed sensitive or politically threatening.
Wen repeated to Zakaria the government line that any opening up of people's rights "must be conducted within the range allowed by the constitution and the laws".
"I often say that we should not only let people have the freedom of speech. We, more importantly, must create conditions to let them criticize the work of the government," Wen said.
"And it is only when there is the supervision and critical oversight from the people that the government will be in a position to do an even better job."
Garuda, the Sina user, wrote: "Wen's interview with CNN is like the sale of domestic commodities only for export."
On the social networking site www.my1510.cn, a user named "colourful bear" agreed, writing: "It would not be published if he had said it at home."
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- PeZook