| Page 3 of 3 < |
Party Looks Beyond China's 'Miss Fix-It'
Vice Premier Wu Yi is planning to retire this year. It is unclear if officials -- voting this week by secret ballot -- will elevate another women to a senior position.
(By Gerald Herbert -- Associated Press)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
"Wu asked me, 'What were you doing at home? How come no one answered?' I told her my phone is tapped. She didn't push the matter further, " Gao said.
"Her attitude was very sincere. She said to me, 'Tell me what you know about the situation. We don't have any Henan people here, so you can talk freely. Whatever you say, I'd like to hear,' " Gao recalled.
"I didn't tell her that I was under a lot of pressure or I was persecuted by some Henan officials. I told her two things: There are a lot of poor AIDS orphans whose parents were dead and they had no one to rely on," Gao said. "And I told her that it's because of the local people selling blood that made AIDS spread so fast."
Gao informed the vice premier that the village she had been taken to see that morning, Wenlou, was a showcase spruced up by local officials who ignored many other villages where the AIDS problem was much worse. "She admitted that she didn't know about the real situation here in Henan; she told me if I ever have any difficulties, to please go and see her. Her secretary gave me a phone number and an address," Gao said.
But Gao, who is closely watched by officials, said she lost contact with Wu.
"Whether she's a man or a woman doesn't matter; she's curious about what's going on in the country," Gao said. "But she is blocked from getting real information. Her power is limited, and she can't do whatever she thinks is good for the country."
Staff researchers Li Jie and Jin Ling contributed to this report.
