As the 300-odd leading members of the Chinese Communist party prepare for their annual meeting to begin on Friday, one man and one issue are dominating discussion: Wen Jiabao, the premier, and his app-roach to political reform.

Over the past few months Mr Wen has made a series of ever bolder statements on the political system, prompting speculation he will use the party meeting to ignite a campaign for greater reform. Yet even if that is Mr Wen’s plan, some analysts believe, his prospects could have been made harder by the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, the jailed dissident.

Mr Wen’s rhetorical foray started in April when he wrote an essay to mark the death of former Communist party boss Hu Yaobang, a supporter of economic and political reform who was pushed out of power by conservative opponents in 1987.