President Xi Jinping's 'comprehensive' list fails to add up at China's National People's Congress
Copies of work report for delegates at National People's Congress had accidentally missed out one of President Xi Jinping's political theories
Cynics may scoff at China's ritualistic annual parliamentary session, saying that few questions of any real import arise as delegates' feel-good rhetoric dispels any gloom about the country's prospects.
Yet this year, an apparent slip in the rhetoric led to a tough question about President Xi Jinping's political theory: quite how many "comprehensives" are involved in the so-called "Four Comprehensives" theory? The answer's not so obvious.
Most people had thought the leadership had ordered the Communist Party's propaganda machine to promote the "Four Comprehensives" before the National People's Congress on March 5, as state media had become abuzz with the term.
As a general guideline for building China into a prosperous and powerful nation, the "Four Comprehensives" was said to refer to: (1) establishing a moderately prosperous society; (2) a determined effort to deepen reforms; (3) creating a nation based on the rule of law; and (4) the strict enforcement of discipline in the party.
Yet surprisingly, copies of the work report of Premier Li Keqiang for delegates and the press contained no reference to "strict enforcement of discipline in the party".
Just minutes before the premier made his speech, opening this year's National People's Congress session on March 5, he and the president conversed on the rostrum of the Great Hall of the People.
The , observing the scene through binoculars, noted that Xi appeared to have spotted a mistake on the work report on the bottom right-hand side of the front page and pointed this out to the premier, who was sat alongside. This was the part of the page referring to the other three "comprehensives".
