国之命在人心
In a press conference closing the 2011 “two meetings” of the National People’s Congress and People’s Political Consultative Conference — at which the proceedings had largely avoided the issue of political reform — Premier Wen Jiabao (温家宝) again stressed the importance of political reform and creating the conditions for the people to criticize and monitor the government. During the press conference, Wen introduced a new catchphrase affirming the important of the popular will in Chinese politics: “I know only too well that a nation’s fate lies in the hearts of its people,” he said. This phrase, guó zhī mìng zài rénxīn (国之命在人心), is inspired by the words of Song Dynasty poet Yang Wanli (杨万里).