China’s Premier Wen Jiabao today issued an apology. For making a basic error in his geology.

When visiting a classroom earlier this month Wen referred to the three types of rock as “sedimentary, magmatic and volcanic”. This is a schoolboy error, as he has now acknowledged in a letter to state news agency Xinhua, which reported his original comments.

“The three main types of rocks should be sedimentary rocks, magmatic rocks (also called igneous rocks) and metamorphic rocks. Please correct my mistake and send my apology to all readers,” he wrote.

The Danwei website notes:

Needless to say, the apology burnishes the established reputation of Wen as a humble, down-to-earth, grandfatherly leader, even if, as a graduate of the Beijing Institute of Geology, he really ought to have known such basic information.

Another reason, perhaps a more important one, is that for the Communist Party, which has been touting “scientific” as its top claim to power (as in “the scientific concept of development” associated with president Hu Jintao), scientific rigor is definitely a quality it would like to be associated with.

The Times says Wen’s “unprecedented” apology has “caused a sensation”.

Xinhua quotes Wang Wei, of the National School of Administration, who says, “Everybody makes mistakes. My respect for our premier is stronger after this.” The news service also notes that “Wen has gained a reputation as a man of the people over the years.”

Headline watch

With apology, China’s Premier wins praise as rock of responsibility – Xinhua

Premier’s candor on rock error rocks China – China Daily