Zhao Ziyang's last years: Hu and Wen are good people, but they can't do much (picture)

Zhao Ziyang's last days: Hu and Wen are good people, but they can't do much (picture) A considerable number of young people in China are somewhat unfamiliar with the name Zhao Ziyang, and for...

A considerable number of young people in China are somewhat unfamiliar with the name Zhao Ziyang, and for Chinese people over thirty years old, this name is almost unknown to everyone. Zhao Ziyang served as Prime Minister of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1980 to 1989. In 1989, during China's Tiananmen democracy movement, Zhao Ziyang was deposed for opposing forceful suppression and remained under house arrest until his death in 2005.

What did this iconic figure of China's reform and opening up at the end of the last century think and say when he lost his personal freedom? Yao Jianfu, a former researcher at the Rural Policy Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, who visited Zhao Ziyang twice in 2004, takes us into the inner world of Zhao Ziyang in his later years.

*If Deng Xiaoping was deceived, he would not be Deng Xiaoping*

Regarding the Tiananmen Democratic Movement in 1989, many people still believe that to this day, China's top leader Deng Xiaoping listened to his subordinates' false reports about the situation and was deceived, so he sent troops to suppress the students, leading to a tragedy. However, Yao Jianfu said that Zhao Ziyang did not agree with this view. Yao Jianfu said that Zhao Ziyang said to him at that time: "If Deng Xiaoping would be deceived, he would not be Deng Xiaoping. It should be said that Deng Xiaoping's information channels and his decisions are his own decisions."

*Unqualified Social Socialism is capitalism*

In his later years, Zhao Ziyang reflected on the nature of the primary stage of socialism and the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party’s governance, showing that he broke through the orthodox views of the Chinese Communist Party in this regard. Yao Jianfu said: "There is this sentence in "Zhao Ziyang's House Arrest Talk": The primary stage of socialism is unqualified socialism, it is not socialism, it is capitalism. Zhao Ziyang's final talk with Du Daozheng in his "Reform Years" contains this passage, if the Communist Party does not support an opposition party, when China is going to be in chaos, people will When you don't believe in the Communist Party, there should be an opposition party, and China will not be in chaos. In the later years of his life, he has stepped away from the "four insistences" he originally mentioned and insisted on the leadership of the Communist Party. Instead, he stood from the perspective of the whole nation and the whole country and did whatever he wanted. Long live the Communist Party, and there will always be no violence under the leadership of the Communist Party. Don’t use force to maintain stability, but use democracy.”

*A modern country must implement parliamentary democracy*

In the secret recording made during Zhao Ziyang’s house arrest, he clearly stated that parliamentary democracy must be implemented.

Excerpts from Zhao Ziyang's secret recording: To achieve modernization, a country must not only implement a market economy and develop modern civilization, but also must implement a system of parliamentary democracy. Otherwise, it will be impossible for this country to turn its market economy into a healthy and modern market economy, nor will it be a truly modern legal society.

*Hu and Wen are unlikely to achieve much*

As for the two Chinese leaders, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, Zhao Ziyang does not think that they will achieve great things in China's reform. Yao Jianfu said: "He (Zhao Ziyang) said that the two of them are good people, but they cannot achieve much. I said, why? He said, these are the people we have trained. This is the only way Hu and Wen can maintain the current situation. Stability is overriding, and economic development is the last word. What if the political changes fail? Jiang Zemin said, we are all in the same boat. , The ship is still moving, and it is moving quite fast. If you make such changes, what if the ship sinks? So they may not carry out major reforms. "

In the early morning of January 17, 2005, Zhao Ziyang died of illness at the age of 86. Because his name is taboo in Chinese official discourse, many Chinese people no longer know who Zhao Ziyang is.