Chinese People Reach Out to Mourn Late Party Boss Despite Media Blackout

Chinese People Reach Out to Mourn Late Party Boss Despite Media Blackout

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- China's near-blackout on the death last week of disgraced Communist Party leader Zhao Ziyang should surprise no one, since Zhao himself helped teach Beijing some painful lessons about the power of the press.

Back on May 19, 1989, even as his fellow cadres prepared to declare martial law and quash student-led protests in and around Tiananmen Square, Zhao broke with the government by publicly sympathizing with the demonstrators -- begging them, as cameras rolled, to put down their placards and go home.

That was Zhao's last public appearance before he was sacked as party chief and condemned to live out his days under house arrest. And because he had sided so visibly with the demonstrators, the entire world was left without any doubt as to why.

The Earth has shifted on its axis since the bloodletting in and around Tiananmen that followed. From Sofia to Shanghai, legions of socialists have abandoned Lenin for luxury goods, and new technologies are transmitting news from the world's farthest corners to the comfortable capitals of the West at lightning speed and minimal cost.

China too "is changing so fast that you can use one word to describe it in the morning but by the afternoon it no longer applies," Radio Free Asia host and renowned labor commentator Han Dongfang said recently.

Except, that is, for the Chinese media -- for which numerous subjects, including Zhao Ziyang, remain absolutely taboo.

Apparently fearing that Zhao's death would reignite smoldering unrest, China's official news agency reported his death in English with a single line that failed to mention either his position in the Party or role in the June 4, 1989 crackdown. The news initially went unreported in Chinese.

Those who tuned in to foreign broadcasts learned of Zhao's death first, and many phoned Radio Free Asia hosts to voice pain still fresh 15 years on -- saddened at the way Zhao was forced to end his life but also angry at their own government for trying to keep them in the dark and refusing to give the man his due.

"I would like to pay my respects to Zhao Ziyang," a listener in Shanghai told RFA. "He demonstrated integrity and courage during the Tiananmen democracy movement. And he paid a dear price for it. Since the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, there have been people of integrity who ended up short-changed and mistreated. But they have earned our respect."

"Chinese TV and radio stations did not report the death of Zhao Ziyang," reported another listener, from Guangxi. "It's a shame that he died this way."

A blind man in Sichuan Province said he too had learned nothing of Zhao's death from China's own media. "I get all my news from the radio. Chinese domestic radio stations did not mention a word of it," he said.

"This is no way to win the hearts of the people. What did Zhao ever do that was so terrible? He opposed killing students during Tiananmen. That's all. It's outrageous. I think Zhao deserves a state funeral."

Another listener, a manager from the southern province of Guangdong, also complained of a news blackout. "It's been three days and the government hasn't made an official statement," he said. "Anyone who lived through the Tiananmen democracy movement will never forget Zhao. He was a reformer."

"When Zhao Ziyang urged the students to leave Tiananmen Square I'm sure he knew that the People's Liberation Army was about to mow them down," said another caller. "I sensed that was what he was trying to tell the students. He risked his job -- even his life -- in doing so. I admire him for it. He will live forever on the minds of those Chinese who crave democracy and rule of law."

The world should join the Chinese people in mourning Zhao Ziyang as a man of conscience and courage. But let us also note with sadness China's even greater loss in the days after his death -- the missed opportunity to start making peace with the ghosts of Tiananmen.

This article was written by Richard Richter, president of Radio Free Asia.

Listener comments: http://www.rfa.org/english/about/listenercomments/listener_comments/

Zhao Ziyang: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/2005/01/17/china_zhao/

CONTACT: Sarah Jackson-Han of Radio Free Asia, +1-202-530-7774.


Source: Radio Free Asia

CONTACT: Sarah Jackson-Han of Radio Free Asia, +1-202-530-7774

Web site: http://www.rfa.org/


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