Polling China

The Pew Research Center (which describes itself as “a nonpartisan ‘fact tank’ that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.) has just released a poll of attitudes in China. There’s a bunch of interesting stuff but one fact should warm the hearts of cadres in Communist Party headquarters in Zhongnanhai: no frewer than 86 per cent surveyed said they were satisfied with the direction the country was moving in. You might say that people were nervous of giving their opinion to pollsters but though days seem to have passed. And besides, the figure was only 48 per cent in 2002. Before they break out the champagne though, those same cadres probably should take note of another number: a whopping 96 per cent said they thought inflation was a very big or moderately big problem.