From Asia Times Online:

It has been a tradition in China, both under the communists and long before, to criticize Chinese leaders indirectly but deftly by comparing them to misguided, wicked or weak emperors, ignoring the welfare of the people, or by comparing them to the wise and benevolent rulers of the past. Chinese readers – and today’s television viewers – are savvy enough to read between the propagandists’ lines and understand 2,000-year-old contrived allusions to current politics. President Hu Jintao thus is a good emperor – it’s clear from prime-time TV – though his model was a Han Dynasty emperor, Han Wu, who lived more than 2,000 years ago.

The circumstances under which the Emperor Han Wu (156-87 BC) ascended the throne are quite similar to those of state President Hu Jintao, who had to contend with “shadow regent” Jiang Zemin and his Shanghai clique who opposed some of his reforms because they would undermine their power and economic interests grounded in building more, bigger and faster.

Thanks, Yong Liu!