they just removed Obama from last november's design and added some red.

All due respect to Premier Wen (a handsome man who didn't deserve to have a shoe thrown at him), but he's still only the public face of the CCP - a motley crue of thugs and poor problem solvers if there ever was one. Truth be told, I'd rather live the rest of my life in the U.S. with George W. Bush as president than wake up tomorrow as a citizen of the People's Republic and subject to the whim of the Party.

The lesser of two evils, to be sure. Then again, I'd much rather be Swedish.

@stinky

He is the PR ambassador for CCP, or a spiritual leader, much like Thailand's Bhumibol, who goes out to the field and boosts social morals. I think China needs a figure like him, especially during the current crisis where families get laid off and graduates can't find a job.

One thing though, is that he isn't really a man of action, the previous Primier, Zhu Rongji（朱镕基）, did all the blamable and difficult works, but Wen seems to have grabbed the glory.

To stinky:He was accompanying the pro-deomocracy General Secretary Zhao Ziyang to go to the Tiananmen square and speak with students in 1989. I believed he is at least one guy with some courage, but for some unknown reason,he was not purged like Zhao.

Stinky,

I am fine with you labelling today's CCP "a group of thugs", but "poor problem solvers"?? You think you can do a better job than these "thugs" governing China? OK, let's hear it. What would you do?

@Pfeffer

No, I don't think I could do a better job. Very likely, I would do much worse. Even so, I don't have to play center for the Lakers to know that the Chinese national basketball team stinks. You feel me?

I'm one of those people who believes that the last 30 years in China look good in large part because the 30 years before that were a disaster. After 30 years of reform, only 150 million Chinese people earn more than US$10,000. According to the UN, at least 200 million Chinese live on US$1 per day or less. Expand that to include those who live on US$2 per day, and the number rises to 500 million or so. The most inclusive figure concerning the size of the Chinese middle class is 400 million - and that number includes just about everyone who participates in China's "miracle" consumer society at any level (from purchasing homes and cars to buying an extra pair of shoes). If we agree, for arguments sake, that the Chinese middle class does number 400 million, that still leaves out 900 million. Anyone who has spent time in China knows that many members of this so-called middle-class are still poor. What does that say about the other 900 million? Indeed, what does that say about China's economic miracle? Not much of a miracle if you ask me. Aside from the enormous poverty, there is the environment, increasing societal decay, poor institutions, the lack of a meaningful civil society, a shitty educational system, bad healthcare, rising unemployment, a growing population, the loss of farmland, etc.

Then there is the fact that China still lacks both freedom of speech, an independent judiciary, and meaningful democratic reforms.

In short, Pfeffer, I'm not impressed with what the CCP has wrought. To continue my analogy, if China was a basketplayer, I wouldn't want him on my team. More to worry about than to cheer about, if you ask me. As for the CCP - it's responsible for much of the mess. I'm not holding my breath while I wait for them to lead China out of it.

@Stinky

I so much agree on your point. And about CCP, they are worse than thugs and poor problem solvers, but morons with a natureborn feudalism burn signs.