During his three state visits to Malaysian, Singapore and U.S, the media have portrayed him as a mystery man. However, Hu told reporters that this description is not fair to him, and he has taken steps to prove that he is only an ordinary guy. Furthermore, the Western media not only wanted to know about Hu's background and characters, but also wanted to know about his political views and how he is going to lead China. However, the media has had little success answering these questions, experts said it is intentional by Hu. Li said, "He is very cautious with the Western media," because "if the Western media portray him as a hardliner, that's not good for him, but if they depict him as China's Gorbachev, it would be downright disastrous."
Posted April 28, 2002