A political leader who is stepping down after presiding over a decade-long economic boom might be excused a little self-congratulation. But the parting message delivered by Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister, is bleak and alarming.

Speaking earlier this week at his final appearance at China’s National People’s Congress, Mr Wen warned that all China’s economic gains could yet be consumed by political turmoil. If China takes the wrong path, he suggested, “such a historical tragedy as the Cultural Revolution may happen again.”

In some respects, Mr Wen’s warnings should be treated with a degree of scepticism. The Cultural Revolution took place from 1966 to 1976, in a China that was infinitely poorer and more isolated than the country of today. It would be impossible to unleash a carbon copy of Maoist terror on the much richer and more sophisticated country of today.