This is an example of citizen journalism at its finest. Wanbro discovers, from an anonymous diplomatic source, that Chinese President Hu Jintao refuses to travel without his portable toilet seat.:

No doubt slightly concerned about the state of his own country’s loos, President Hu Jintao will not leave the mainland without being equipped with his own personal toilet seat, according to a reputable source. On his world tours to such savage nations as Spain, Germany and to those soap-dodging Brits, Hu will lug around his bathroom furniture, clearly deeply mistrustful of the efficiency of Jif and bleach.

Intrigued, but not convinced, I got digging around, determined to find some confirmation, however spurious, about this. So then, to the embassy.

“Erm… we don’t really have much comment to make about this” replied a somewhat baffled man on the other end of the line, “but we can confirm there is truth behind the rumour”.

This indicates that Hu is far more westernized than commonly thought. Before being elevated to Beijing, Hu mostly served in China’s rural hinterland. AsiaPundit had suspected that this would mean that Hu was more accustomed to the seatless squat toilet. That he carries a toilet seat indicates otherwise.

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