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Hu holds web chat with citizens

— Photo: Xinhua

Chinese President Hu Jintao.

BEIJING: China’s President Hu Jintao talked to Internet-users on Friday via a news portal, the first time that he has gone online to chat. Mr. Hu was speaking through a forum of people.com.cn, the news portal of the People’s Daily.

Since the time the forum told its members of Mr. Hu’s visit, about 300 questions have been posted. The questions ranged from reforms to China-Taiwan relations, corruption, price hikes, state asset management and supervision to his personal hobbies.

“The Internet is a major channel to gather opinion and wisdom from the public,” said Mr. Hu during the chat. “I am squeezing in time to go online, though I cannot surf the web every day due to my busy workload,” he said in answer to a question.

China had the world’s most number of net users with 221 million as of February, outnumbering that of the U.S. From the Olympic torch relay to the devastating May 12 earthquake, the web has shown that it is an impressive force to mobilise people and make their voices heard.

At a meeting early last year, Mr. Hu said it was vital to the country’s long-term stability whether it was able to well develop and manage the Internet. “I log on to view domestic and foreign news, to learn what interests people on the Internet and to solicit their advice and opinions about the work of our government and party,” said Mr. Hu in response to posts during Friday’s online conversations.

“I am very much concerned about some of the problems and opinions raised,” he said in the 20-minute conversation. “We must listen to the people and lean on their wisdom to do a good job,” he added. The Qiangguo Forum was a “must-visit” website, said Mr. Hu. The forum originates from a virtual reality community launched by www.people.com.cn to lodge protests against the U.S.-led NATO forces bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade on May 9, 1999.

It was renamed on June 19 to the Qiangguo Forum, which has the literal meaning of “powering the nation.” It has more than 23,000 daily postings and the highest simultaneous webpage visits exceeded 1.4 million. Earlier, netizens greeted Mr. Hu with a flood of posts. “Thank you, the first ever top state leader in Chinese history to talk to net users,” said one.

“Mr. President, there is a saying among us that people support you, good officials follow you and corrupt ones fear you,” wrote Yuqingshan2. Some senior officials have participated in such on-line chats previously, including several vice-chairpersons of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the former Foreign Minister, Li Zhaoxing.

Right before this year’s annual session of the NPC, the top legislature, Internet-users raised questions and put forward proposals to Premier Wen Jiabao. At www.xinhuanet.com alone, nearly 30,000 suggestions were posted and 1.5 million people either posted or commented on them.

Mr. Wen said on March 19 that he kept surfing online during the session.

“I am deeply moved by so many people raising questions and making proposals to me and even sharing burdens with me,” he said, adding: “The opinions showed their trust and support of the government and were also a form of encouragement and supervision.” — Xinhua

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