But, increasingly, politicians and intellectuals on both sides say the process is making the future more difficult.

Some Chinese intellectuals say he has signaled an openness to political change.

"They must decide the succession problem," a Chinese intellectual said.

But an intellectual said later that the Government had decided no meeting was needed.

"This is a breakthrough," a young intellectual said, pointing to the newspaper.

Some Polish intellectuals say the country has started to face its past.

"I think there are going to a lot of fake relatives," a Chinese intellectual said.

The only people with spine in this society were the 47 women who drove, one Saudi intellectual said.

Iraqis have always been great writers of poetry, intellectuals here say.

"We sit around the room, and the leader asks people to comment," said a middle-aged intellectual.