Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government, was quoted in the BBC News article "China's leader shows his stripes." Li said, "As a wise politician, Hu Jintao quickly sensed that his mandate was to fix the serious problems that occurred during the Jiang era. These include Jiang's favourable policies towards Shanghai and other coastal regions at the expense of the interior, his single-minded goal to increase the GDP without paying attention to social cohesion, and his obsession with patron-client ties."
According to the article, "Westerners who thought he might become China's Gorbachev have been left disappointed. But as Li explained, becoming a Gorbachev figure would imply failure. 'Hu Jintao's mandate, as he perceives it, is not to end the one-party rule or lead to the collapse of the Middle Kingdom, but to save the Chinese Communist Party and to enhance China's influence and power in the ever-changing international environment.'"
He concluded, "No one knows whether he could succeed, but his personal power is growing and his vision for the country seems to be shared by many Chinese."
