Jiang Zemin, former leader of China, passed away this Wednesday at the age of 96, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua announced.
Jiang led China after the Tiananmen pro-democracy protests of 1989 until the early 2000s.
He rose to power the day after army tanks put an end to the Tiananmen Square movement, on the night of June 3-4, 1989, witnessing the transformation of the world’s most populous country into a world power. .
The former head of state died of leukemia and multiple organ failure in Shanghai, China’s economic capital, where he served as a local Communist Party (CCP) leader in the second half of the 1980s.
According to a statement from the Jiang Zemin Funeral Committee, quoted by the Chinese news agency, “foreign governments, political parties and friendly people are not invited to send delegations or representatives to China to participate in mourning activities.”
In 2002, Hu Jintao succeeded him and was later succeeded by the current President Xi Jinping. In practice, Jiang developed the model of one country, two systems, opening up the Chinese economic market.
One of the earliest expressions of homage in China is Xinhua News Agency home pagewhich is in black and white.
Considered a surprising choice to lead the Party, divided after the turmoil of 1989, Jiang has seen China undergo several historic transformations, including the resumption of market-oriented economic reforms, the return of Hong Kong and Macao’s sovereignty by from the UK and Portugal. , respectively, and Beijing’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.
Even during a period when China opened up to the outside world, the Jiang administration cracked down on dissidents and activists advocating for human and labor rights and pro-democracy reforms, and banned the Falun Gong spiritual movement. , which the CCP saw as a threat to its monopoly power.
He gave up his last official title in 2004, but continued to wield influence behind the scenes during disputes between different CCP factions that preceded the rise to power of current Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2012.
Rumors that Jiang may be in poor health arose after his absence from the 20th CPC Congress, which took place last October and cemented Xi’s status as China’s strongest leader since at least the 1990s. 1990 to 1980.
Jiang was about to retire as Party Secretary in Shanghai in 1989 when he was summoned by then-Supreme Leader Deng Xiaoping. He succeeded Zhao Ziyang, who was fired by Deng due to his rapprochement with the Tiananmen Square protesters. Zhao was under house arrest until his death in 2005.
During his 13 years as the CPC general secretary, Jiang guided China’s economic rise by welcoming private-sector entrepreneurs into the Party and encouraging foreign investment after China joined the WTO. China overtook Germany and then Japan to become the world’s second largest economy after the United States.
Jiang also scored a political victory when Beijing was chosen to host the 2008 Summer Olympics after an earlier bid failed.
A former manager of a soap factory, Jiang ended his career with the first orderly succession in the history of the communist regime, when he transferred his position, in 2002, to Hu Jintao, who also assumed the ceremonial title of head of state, in the same next year.
*News updated at 10:33 am
Source: TSF
