To most people familiar with the name Zhu Rongji, the former premier, he is remembered best for the annual press conference he held during his term. Even today, his comments remain a topic of delight.
Last month, more than six years after Zhu retired, People’s Publshing House published Zhu Rongji in Press Conference (457pp, 59 yuan), an archive of transcripts from every major press conference Zhu held while serving as premier and vice premier. It also includes lectures he gave overseas, some of which are appearing in print for the first time.
It sold nearly a million copies in the two months since its release, and continues to top the sales charts of online bookstores like dangdang.com and joy.com.
But why is the 81-year-old, who disappeared from the public eye after his retirement, once again so popular?
Some critics point to his special qualities which other officials lack: courage, wisdom, humor and vision.
Some of his answers to press conference questions remain inspirational after all this time. For example, when responding to corruption problems, he said: “In the war against corruption, we should beat the tiger before taking on the wolves. We should never show mercy to the tiger. To that end, let’s make 100 coffins, including one for m In the worst case, I’ll be destroyed with them. But what is that in exchange for the long-term stability and development of our nation and people’s confidence in our cause.any government leaders and former leaders are publishing autobiographies. While Zhu wrote several academic books on management in the 1980s, he has always refused to write about his life. The 10 biographies of Zhu have all been written by others and were unauthorized.
