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Friday 15 May 2009
Zhao Ziyang’s secret memoirs
A 1993 photograph of the late Zhao Ziyang, who was head of the Chinese Communist Party during the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. His secretly recorded memoirs, to be published this month, shed light on the ongoing political war in the party at that time.
Ex-party chief decries 1989 Tiananmen crackdown and praises democracy
15 May 2009
BEIJING: - Two decades after his downfall and four years after his death, reformist Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang has broken the official silence on the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, denouncing the killings of protesters as a ‘tragedy’.
In memoirs recorded secretly under house arrest, Zhao has challenged China’s cautious, current leaders just before the 20th anniversary of June 4, when troops crushed pro-democracy protests centred on Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
He praises Western-style democracy and denounces the armed quelling of the protests, when troops and tanks pushed down Chang’an Avenue shooting demonstrators and onlookers.
‘On the night of June 3rd, while sitting in the courtyard with my family, I heard intense gunfire,’ says Zhao. ‘A tragedy to shock the world had not been averted.’ Zhao, who was head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1989, rejects the government’s claim that the student protesters were part of an anti-communist conspiracy.
‘I had said at the time that most people were only asking us to correct our flaws, not attempting to overthrow our political system,’ Zhao says in the book Prisoner Of The State, which will be published by Simon & Schuster in English this month.
The memoirs, about 30 hours of tape, were given to three confidants and smuggled out of China. A manuscript was obtained by Reuters.
Zhao’s account of party elders pushing him from power sheds rare light on the political warring behind the protests that shook China 20 years ago, culminating in his ouster and the crackdown that killed hundreds on the streets of Beijing.
Zhao secretly recorded his memories throughout the years under house detention until his death in January 2005. In them, he decries what he saw as the mistaken conservative path taken by the CCP after 1989 and argues for a gradual transition to Western-style democracy.
‘If we don’t move towards this goal, it will be impossible to resolve the abnormal conditions in China’s market economy,’ he says.
Hong Kong-based publisher Bao Pu, son of Mr. Bao Tong, Zhao’s former top aide, said Zhao apparently wanted to give his version of events to challenge the CCP’s official condemnation of the Tiananmen protesters and its one-party rule.
‘He did not leave instructions...but clearly he wanted his story to survive,’ said Mr. Bao, whose New Century Press is publishing the Chinese edition of the book.
Asked what the impact of the memoirs would be, Mr. Bao Tong, who lives under police surveillance in Beijing but has been allowed to meet foreign reporters, told Reuters: ‘I think it will cause party members to reflect deeply.’
He added: ‘I think it is slightly more likely that senior leaders would read this book. It will give them a lot to think about and cause them to think about the party’s basic survival.’
He said he was ‘100 per cent certain’ the voice on an audio recording was Zhao’s after listening to excerpts.
The thread running through Zhao’s memories is his tortured bond with Deng Xiaoping, who steered China to market reforms but rejected - ultimately with force - calls for democratic change.
Deng is honoured by China as the pioneer behind the country’s economic success, and Zhao’s account of double-crossing and betrayal under Deng is likely to irk the country’s current leaders.
Zhao rejects the notion that Deng was instinctively in favour of political relaxation but was led astray by conservatives. Deng’s notions of democracy ‘were no more than empty words’.
Zhao says that in ousting him from power, Deng, then Premier Li Peng and party conservatives trampled on rules meant to prevent a return to Mao’s years of arbitrary, one-man power.
The remedy to China’s problems, Zhao says, lies in gradual but unceasing movement towards democracy. ‘I believe the time has come for us to tackle this issue seriously,’ he concludes.
'On the night of June 3rd, while sitting in the courtyard with my family, I heard intense gunfire. A tragedy to shock the world had not been averted and was happening after all...
...(It) was determined then that the student movement was a planned conspiracy of anti-party, anti-socialist elements with leadership. So now, we must ask, who were these leaders? What was the plan? What was the conspiracy? What evidence exists to support this?
... (It) was said that this event was aimed at overthrowing the People's Republic and the Communist Party. Where is the evidence? I had said at the time that most people were only asking us to correct our flaws, not attempting to overthrow our political system.'
ON THE WESTERN PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM
'...(It) is the Western parliamentary democratic system that has demonstrated the most vitality. This system is currently the best one available. It is able to manifest the spirit of democracy and meet the demands of a modern society...
...If a country wishes to modernise, not only should it implement a market economy, it must also adopt a parliamentary democracy as its political system. Otherwise, this nation will not be able to have a market economy that is healthy and modern, nor can it become a modern society with a rule of law.'
ON POLITICAL REFORM
'If we don't move towards this goal, it will be impossible to resolve the abnormal conditions in China's market economy: Issues such as an unhealthy market, profiting from power, rampant social corruption and a widening gap between rich and poor. Nor will the rule of law ever materialise.'
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Zhao Ziyang’s secret memoirs
Ex-party chief decries 1989 Tiananmen crackdown and praises democracy
15 May 2009
BEIJING: - Two decades after his downfall and four years after his death, reformist Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang has broken the official silence on the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, denouncing the killings of protesters as a ‘tragedy’.
In memoirs recorded secretly under house arrest, Zhao has challenged China’s cautious, current leaders just before the 20th anniversary of June 4, when troops crushed pro-democracy protests centred on Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
He praises Western-style democracy and denounces the armed quelling of the protests, when troops and tanks pushed down Chang’an Avenue shooting demonstrators and onlookers.
‘On the night of June 3rd, while sitting in the courtyard with my family, I heard intense gunfire,’ says Zhao. ‘A tragedy to shock the world had not been averted.’ Zhao, who was head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1989, rejects the government’s claim that the student protesters were part of an anti-communist conspiracy.
‘I had said at the time that most people were only asking us to correct our flaws, not attempting to overthrow our political system,’ Zhao says in the book Prisoner Of The State, which will be published by Simon & Schuster in English this month.
The memoirs, about 30 hours of tape, were given to three confidants and smuggled out of China. A manuscript was obtained by Reuters.
Zhao’s account of party elders pushing him from power sheds rare light on the political warring behind the protests that shook China 20 years ago, culminating in his ouster and the crackdown that killed hundreds on the streets of Beijing.
Zhao secretly recorded his memories throughout the years under house detention until his death in January 2005. In them, he decries what he saw as the mistaken conservative path taken by the CCP after 1989 and argues for a gradual transition to Western-style democracy.
‘If we don’t move towards this goal, it will be impossible to resolve the abnormal conditions in China’s market economy,’ he says.
Hong Kong-based publisher Bao Pu, son of Mr. Bao Tong, Zhao’s former top aide, said Zhao apparently wanted to give his version of events to challenge the CCP’s official condemnation of the Tiananmen protesters and its one-party rule.
‘He did not leave instructions...but clearly he wanted his story to survive,’ said Mr. Bao, whose New Century Press is publishing the Chinese edition of the book.
Asked what the impact of the memoirs would be, Mr. Bao Tong, who lives under police surveillance in Beijing but has been allowed to meet foreign reporters, told Reuters: ‘I think it will cause party members to reflect deeply.’
He added: ‘I think it is slightly more likely that senior leaders would read this book. It will give them a lot to think about and cause them to think about the party’s basic survival.’
He said he was ‘100 per cent certain’ the voice on an audio recording was Zhao’s after listening to excerpts.
The thread running through Zhao’s memories is his tortured bond with Deng Xiaoping, who steered China to market reforms but rejected - ultimately with force - calls for democratic change.
Deng is honoured by China as the pioneer behind the country’s economic success, and Zhao’s account of double-crossing and betrayal under Deng is likely to irk the country’s current leaders.
Zhao rejects the notion that Deng was instinctively in favour of political relaxation but was led astray by conservatives. Deng’s notions of democracy ‘were no more than empty words’.
Zhao says that in ousting him from power, Deng, then Premier Li Peng and party conservatives trampled on rules meant to prevent a return to Mao’s years of arbitrary, one-man power.
The remedy to China’s problems, Zhao says, lies in gradual but unceasing movement towards democracy. ‘I believe the time has come for us to tackle this issue seriously,’ he concludes.
Translated excerpts from Zhao's book
ON THE TIANANMEN CRACKDOWN
'On the night of June 3rd, while sitting in the courtyard with my family, I heard intense gunfire. A tragedy to shock the world had not been averted and was happening after all...
...(It) was determined then that the student movement was a planned conspiracy of anti-party, anti-socialist elements with leadership. So now, we must ask, who were these leaders? What was the plan? What was the conspiracy? What evidence exists to support this?
... (It) was said that this event was aimed at overthrowing the People's Republic and the Communist Party. Where is the evidence? I had said at the time that most people were only asking us to correct our flaws, not attempting to overthrow our political system.'
ON THE WESTERN PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM
'...(It) is the Western parliamentary democratic system that has demonstrated the most vitality. This system is currently the best one available. It is able to manifest the spirit of democracy and meet the demands of a modern society...
...If a country wishes to modernise, not only should it implement a market economy, it must also adopt a parliamentary democracy as its political system. Otherwise, this nation will not be able to have a market economy that is healthy and modern, nor can it become a modern society with a rule of law.'
ON POLITICAL REFORM
'If we don't move towards this goal, it will be impossible to resolve the abnormal conditions in China's market economy: Issues such as an unhealthy market, profiting from power, rampant social corruption and a widening gap between rich and poor. Nor will the rule of law ever materialise.'
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