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WEB PERSONALITY: Mr Hu makes a brief appearance online. -- PHOTO: WWW.PEOPLE.COM.CN
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BEIJING - CAN corruption be rooted out? Will heads roll after so many schools collapsed in the recent earthquake? How can we recover from the stock market slump?
Do you like being called 'Elder Brother Hu'?
Chinese Internet users fired tough, and sometimes irreverent, questions at President Hu Jintao yesterday during a live Webchat, the first ever by a top Chinese leader.
While none of the pointed questions were answered, the event, which lasted about 20 minutes, is an indication of the growing importance that the government attaches to the 221-million-strong online community in China, said to be the largest in the world.
This community has emerged as a considerable force to be reckoned with domestically in recent years not just due to its sheer number, but also because of the ability of its vocal and tech-savvy members to quickly mobilise people for certain causes.
The anti-Japanese riots in 2005 and the anti-French protests earlier this year were largely organised through online resources like chatrooms and instant messaging.
It is unclear how Internet-savvy Chinese leaders are, though Mr Hu told Internet users yesterday that he tries to set aside time to go online despite his heavy workload.
'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,' the Chinese leader said during his brief online appearance on the Qiangguo (which literally means strong nation) Forum at www.qglt.com
The forum is part of an online news portal run by the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
Internet users were curious about how Mr Hu went about 'soliciting' opinions and asked if he went by a particular online moniker.
Mr Hu did not answer those questions, but maintained: 'We pay great attention to suggestions and advice from our netizens. We need to listen to people's voices extensively and pool the people's wisdom when we take actions and make decisions.
'The Web is an important channel for us to understand the public's concerns.'
Bread-and-butter issues were predictably a top concern at yesterday's Webchat, reflecting widespread unhappiness over rising inflation, high property prices and the stock market slump.
The fuel price hike announced late last night also angered some netizens.
'Why did the government raise the prices of petroleum and electricity? Haven't the authorities said some time earlier that they would not do it again?' said one online posting.
Internet users also peppered Mr Hu with questions over the recent earthquake that devastated large parts of south-western China, asking how reconstruction funds would be used, as well as how the government planned to take care of the orphaned children.
Others tried to sneak in trickier questions, asking him to comment on the development of democracy and rule of law in China, as well as the recent political changes in Taiwan.
The cheekier ones wanted to know how much the Chinese leader earned every month while others used the opportunity to raise issues and make complaints.
Mr Hu said he did not have time to answer all the questions, but promised to 'seriously read and study' the responses sent to him.
Premier Wen Jiabao is another Chinese leader who became an online sensation of sorts recently when a supporter set up a Facebook entry for him. Mr Wen's entry has to date attracted more than 51,000 supporters.
A check on Facebook yesterday showed that Mr Hu has a similar entry, though he is listed as having only 460 supporters.
chinhon@sph.com.sg
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