US embassy cable - 03BEIJING16342

C O N F I D E N T I A L  BEIJING 016342 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/12/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, CH 
SUBJECT: WEN JIABAO'S DOMESTIC TRAVEL HABITS 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Jon Aloisi. 
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
1.  (C) Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA) Director 
General Wang Zhenyao (strictly protect) has helped 
arrange three of Premier Wen Jiabao's domestic trips 
since last year and reports that Wen's intellectual 
curiosity and impatience with bureaucratic practices 
can cause "headaches" for his staff and handlers when 
the Premier travels.  Wang said Wen has modest 
personal needs, but constantly queries subordinates 
about his itinerary and often deviates from his 
schedule because he is consumed with getting an 
"unfiltered" view of local areas.  End Summary. 
 
Just the Facts 
------------- 
 
2.  (C) MOCA Department of Disaster and Socal Relief 
Director General Wang Zhenyao told oloff November 6 
that, from his experience heping to arrange three of 
Premier Wen Jiabao's recent trips to disaster areas, 
he has concluded that Wen's natural intellectual 
curiosity and impatience with standard bureaucratic 
practices make him a formidable traveler for whom to 
make arrangements.  Wang said Wen dislikes 
choreographed schedules and frequently deviates from 
the itinerary set by his aides.  Citing an example, 
Wang recalled that earlier this year in Shaanxi, Wen 
frequently ordered his driver to stop suddenly so that 
he could talk to villagers about their lives.  "Wen 
does not chitchat in these conversations, but asks 
very specific questions about living standards," Wang 
said.  For example, Wen asked villagers about the 
amount of grain they harvested per unit of farmland, 
the cost of transporting their yield to market and the 
price they got per unit sold.  Wen does not want to 
hear only from the local Party leaders, who tend to 
gloss over blemishes, but from the peasants 
themselves, Wang offered. 
 
Itinerary Changes 
----------------- 
 
3.  (C) Such impulsiveness can be a "headache" for 
schedulers because Wen is constantly questioning his 
itinerary.  "If you arrange for him to visit one 
village, he asks why he wasn't scheduled to visit 
another nearby village," Wang said.  According to 
Wang, Wen fears that he will hear "prettified and 
filtered views" on his trips, so he insists on 
injecting spontaneity into his travels. 
 
"Let's Make a Deal" 
------------------- 
 
4.  (C) To illustrate Wen's distaste for the common 
practice among Chinese officials of woodenly reading 
their work reports, Wang recounted an incident from 
Wen's travel to several central provinces last winter, 
while he was still a Vice Premier.  During this trip, 
which Wang also arranged, Wen listened to a local 
mayor drone on and on about his city's successful 
handling of emergencies.  According to Wang, Wen 
became so frustrated with the mayor's monotone 
presentation that the following exchange took place: 
"Mr. Mayor, can you deliver your report without 
referring to your text," Wen asked.  "Mr. Vice 
Premier, I refer to my manuscript because it contains 
a lot of statistics," the mayor replied.  "Mr. Mayor, 
you have been an official in this city for several 
years now.  Surely you must have a command of the 
statistics that reflect how life is for the city's 
residents," Wen chastised.  "I'll make you a deal," 
Wen continued. "If you put away your text, then I'll 
put away mine when it is my turn to speak." 
Embarrassed, the mayor pushed his manuscript to the 
side, but continued to take frequent peeks when the 
Vice Premier was not looking, Wang wryly noted.  "That 
poor mayor," Wang remarked.  "It was the middle of 
winter yet he was perspiring through his shirt."  Wang 
stressed that Wen was very polite throughout the 
encounter and did not lose his cool. 
 
Simple Personal Needs 
--------------------- 
 
5.  (C) On the trips that Wang arranged for Wen, Wen's 
personal requirements were very simple.  He preferred 
to eat modestly and alone in his hotel room rather 
than take part in fancy banquets, which provincial 
officials would have gladly hosted, Wang recalled. 
The Minister of Civil Affairs, Li Xueju, whom Wang 
noted is close to Hu Jintao, accompanies Wen 
frequently on domestic trips and has relayed similar 
anecdotes about the Premier indicating that he is a 
focused and unpretentious traveler. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
6.  (C) Wang's view that the Premier is a detail- 
oriented taskmaster who has simple tastes tracks 
closely with the assessments of others in Beijing who 
have worked with the Premier. 
 
 
RANDT