Chinese Communist Party chief Hu Jintao is as much of an enigma today as he was when he rose to power almost three years ago, still keeping the world guessing whether he is a closet liberal or an ultra-conservative.
The 62-year-old Hu, who doubles as state president, has sent mixed signals in recent months, tempering crackdowns on perceived threats to Communist rule with a bold decision to rehabilitate a reformist predecessor, Hu Yaobang, whose death sparked the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests.