Boss Hu Avoids Tricky Questions in Online Chat

In the 1930s, US president Theodore Roosevelt's fireside chats set the political tone of the radio age. In the 1960s, John Kennedy's impassioned speeches thrilled the first television generation.

Yesterday the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, made his mark with a four-minute online debut in front of the world's biggest population of internet users.

Without tapping a keyboard, the Communist leader dictated his responses to an online forum of the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling party. Online video shows the president, who is widely seen as stiff and distant, visiting the newsroom to answer queries on the paper's website. According to China Digital Times - a US-based website that monitors the internet in China - Hu scanned a page of questions that included topics such as Taiwan's democracy, inflation and officials wasting money on lavish banquets.

Some readers reportedly addressed the president as Boss Hu, Old Hu and Brother Hu, familiarity common on the internet but sharply at odds with protocol.

But the forum host changed the title to General Secretary Hu as she read out an uncontentious question about how often the president uses the internet.

"Although I am very busy and I do not have the time to use the internet everyday, I try to spare some time to do it. I want to say that this online forum of People.com is one of the websites I visit often," Hu replied into a microphone.

Asked next about his online reading habits, the president said he first followed domestic and foreign news, then looked for internet users' comments about the work of the party and the country.

Although ballot-box democracy is practiced only at a local level in China, the leaders of the one-party state have shown themselves to be responsive at times to online opinion. China's net population is estimated at 221 million, after overtaking the US earlier this year.

The last question asked whether Hu could see chatroom suggestions. "We care a lot about internet users' ideas and advice," said the president.

Responses to the online chat were positive. "It is good to be able to communicate with top leaders. I hope it is not the only time we get a chance," said one post.