Domestically, a lot of people think Xi Jinping is becoming Mao Zedong. By giving Hong Kong democracy, people would look at them as enlightened leaders.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Xi Jinping is one of the strongest and most capable revolutionary leaders I have met in my life.
I believe it's important that Hong Kong does not become another Chinese city.
When Xi Jinping came to power, there were a series of hints that market-based capitalism would be allowed to move forward under his leadership. At the first real threat, they've fallen over themselves to impose government control.
We encourage China to engage as a good global citizen and we are clear-eyed about where differences do lie.
There is a growing recognition about China as a power in the ascent, and there is a question out there about what China will do with their new ascension.
There's a reason the Chinese government is very concerned about Ai Weiwei. It's because he has all of these ingredients in his life that allow him to attract enormous attention across a very broad spectrum of the population.
I believe I and all the Chinese people have such a conviction that China will make continuous progress and the people's wishes for and needs for democracy and freedom are irresistible.
Beijing, much as it has done with Hong Kong, persists in equating 'people power' with instability.
The biggest novelty of 2013 will be new leadership in China. Very little is known about the views of the new leaders - who will rule the country for ten years. But we do know they're the first generation of Chinese leaders who have spent the majority of their lives in a China 'opening up' to the rest of the world.
China doesn't have a single leader. It has - a first among equals is the president, and his name will probably be Xi Jinping, almost certainly.