Better late than never for a stirring echo from the past

Official media don't usually mess up important dates. So, why was Deng Xiaoping's call for reform in Shenzhen in January 20 years ago being remembered so fondly last week?

Maybe some media managers wanted to time the activities for closer to the annual session of the National People's Congress, which starts in Beijing in a week.

Whatever the reason, Xinhua got the ball rolling with a lengthy article analysing the lasting lessons from Deng. The January-February double issue of the Guangdong-based Foreign Trade and Economy magazine - which came out only last week - went a step further, with the cover story headline: 'Return to 1992'.

As the week went on, People's Daily chimed in, saying that however well planned, reforms were bound to be criticised by vested interests, a demanding public and idealists. Nevertheless, 'reformers should listen to the people but not easily abandon their commitment, and apply wisdom but never shirk their responsibility'.

The commentary then said China 'would rather have an imperfect reform, rather than a crisis from no reform'. This sentence was later quoted widely online. It went so far as to criticise officials that habitually tried to avoid 'structural obstacles' that were impossible to evade. Those that did, People's Daily said, earned temporary respite at the expense of their successors, who must grapple with even worse problems. But who are these officials, allegedly bearing 'structural' responsibilities? People's Daily didn't say. Given the Communist Party is under going a leadership transition later this year, the commentary's combination of courageous words and a cowardly failure to mention specific names or cases allows readers conjure up scenarios of their own.

The official press is more straightforward on the issue of 'top-level design', which has become something of a catchphrase in mainland media. It refers to systematic planning and contrasts with efforts over the past three decades, a process Deng described colloquially as 'crossing the river by feeling the stones under the water'.