Prisoner of the State

Zhao was appointed premier in 1980 to replace Hua Guofeng, Mao's designated successor, who was being pushed out of power by Deng Xiaoping. He developed a course for transforming the socialist system that set the stage for much of the later Chinese economic reform. He also advocated an open foreign policy, fostering good relations with western nations that could aid China's economic development.Zhao was a solid believer in the party, but he defined socialism much differently than party conservatives. He believed economic progress was inextricably linked to democratization. As early as 1986, Zhao became the first high-ranking Chinese leader to call for offering a choice of election candidates from the village level all the way up to membership in the Central Committee.In January 1987, Zhao became PC General Secretary. According to western observers, the two years Zhao served as General Secretary were the most open in modern Chinese history: more freedom of speech and of the press, including allowing intellectuals to freely propose improvements for the country. Zhao also pushed for reducing state control of businesses and for increasing private ownership via stock. One of his most radical suggestions was to separate the role of the party from the role of the state. That did not go over well.In May 1988, Zhao proposed accelerating price reform. Because it caused inflation, this led to a huge debate about the proper way to proceed, and gave an opening to the hard-liners like Lie Peng and Yao Yilin who were becoming concerned about Zhao's views. Zhao found himself in multi-front turf battles with these party elders. By the beginning of 1989, Zhao was fighting for his own political survival. As it happened, the student protests triggered by the sudden death of former CCP General Secretary Hu Yaobang, widely seen as a reform-minded leader, provided Zhao with a golden opportunity to regain the political upper-hand and to advance his reform agenda. But that's not what happened.Instead, the more the student protests spread, the more the hardliners came to the view they had accepted too much change already. The tragic events of the Tiananmen Square protests of April 1989 sealed Zhao's fate: While he was paying an official visit to Pyongyang, the party hard-liners exploited the opportunity to declare the ongoing protests "counter-revolutionary." Upon returning from North Korea, Zhao made several attempts to steer the course toward what he called "a track based upon democracy and the rule of law". He opened up channels for direct dialogues between students and the government at multiple levels. He also ordered the news media to cover the student demonstrations with unprecedented openness. A number of legislative initiatives aimed at the reform of press, news media and education were also under way. However, Zhao's initiatives, along with his conciliatory attitude toward the students, were seen by the elders and other party hard-liners as hastened steps toward breaking free of the party's control, a recipe for disaster. Zhao completely lost the trust of Deng Xiaoping, his long-time political patron and mentor.Shortly before 5 A.M. on the morning of May 19, 1989 Zhao appeared in Tiananmen Square and wandered among the crowd of protesters. Using a bullhorn, he gave a famous speech to the students at the square.The protesters did not disperse. A day after Zhao's May 19th visit to Tiananmen Square, Premier Li Peng publicly declared martial law. In the power struggle that ensued, Zhao was stripped of all his positions. What motivated Zhao remains, even today, a topic of debate by many. Some say he went into the square hoping a conciliatory gesture would gain him leverage against hard-liners like Premier Li Peng. Others believe he supported the protesters and did not want to see them hurt when the military was called in.

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Title of ebook: Prisoner of the State
ISBN: 9781439154076
parent-ISBN: 9781439149386
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 05-2009
Released online for download: 05-19-2009
Author of eBook: Ziyang, Zhao

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Prisoner of the State

The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang

Preface

Adi Ignatius

It was an exhilarating moment for China and the world. In late 1987, at the end of a spirited Communist Party Congress that seemed to propel China on a more progressive course, a new team of leaders emerged, led by a preternaturally tranquil man named Zhao Ziyang.

Zhao wasn't an unknown: after an impressive career in the provinces guiding the first, baby steps of China's recovery from Mao Zedong's lethally unsuccessful economic experiments, Zhao had been summoned to Beijing in 1980 and was soon named Premier, responsible for the economy.

Yet now he was being elevated to the most senior position in China's leadership: General Secretary of the Party. Since he was only sixty-eight years old -- a mere child among China's leaders -- he had to deal with an older generation of Party veterans who lacked official titles but nonetheless wielded ultimate authority. But the supreme leader of those octogenarians, Deng Xiaoping, had given Zhao the keys to the republic. It was his time to shine.

Zhao was unlike any previous ... read full excerpt from: Prisoner of the State ebook

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