Beijing – Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, who died on Wednesday age 97, was never one to mince his words.

When the four-volume selection of his speeches came out in 2011, they shocked readers with his description of “tofu dregs” flood dykes built by “parasites,” and erring bankers labeled as “half-wits.”

It was little wonder that his blunt comments from his years in power became best-sellers, finding eager readers in a nation whose then leaders were seen as wary and cautious, prone to often bland public pronouncements.