Wake up（362）

 

362

 

Liu Xiaosheng told Nan Yangsheng and Pan Tianliang: While Chinese leaders in Beijing were discussing how to deal with the student demonstrators occupying Tiananmen Square, Jiang Zemin had quelled similar protests in Shanghai. He shut down a newspaper he believed would incite protests and surprised students by reciting President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in English when he addressed them. This approach to quelling demonstrations without using force impressed China's paramount leader at the time, Deng Xiaoping.

Some political scholars believe that from the record of Jiang Zemin's political career, he has obvious "opportunist" color. Jiang Zemin, as a technocratic leader, is not his "insider" as the CCP veterans think, so he is only a "gatekeeper" for the regime.

Because Liu Xiaosheng once served as the head of the review department of the Press and Publication Bureau, he often participated in the regular press meetings organized by the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee, that is, the secretary of the Municipal Party Committee or the mayor had a dialogue with the media leaders in the news circle. That is, in light of the current situation, what should not be said and what can be said.

Zhu Rongji was mayor of Shanghai when Jiang Zemin was secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee. During their reign, economic reform became one of China's greatest achievements in the Jiang Zemin era. Reforms have been implemented in almost all areas of the Chinese economy—reform of state-owned enterprises, deregulation of exchange rates, liberalization of the real estate market, implementation of a tax-sharing system, and entry into the World Trade Organization. China as a whole has taken a big step in the direction of a market economy, and thus opened the two decades of the fastest development in Chinese history.

Liu Xiaosheng said: During the "June 4th" period, regular news meetings were held in a conference room of a restaurant in Fuxing Park. Jiang Zemin served as Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee. Jiang Zemin communicated with the media leaders present at the meeting. Ding Ximan, the boss of "Liberation Daily", asked whether the media can report some critical opinions? Jiang Zemin said: The Communist Party does not need "a little scolding but a big help" from the editor-in-chief of "Ta Kung Pao".

Liu Xiaosheng said: Before June 4th, the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee had dealt with the "World Economic Herald" and suspended its publication. But Qin Benli, the editor-in-chief of the "World Economic Herald" at that time also attended the regular news meeting. He said to Jiang Zemin: "The Herald" is a tabloid. Can you shoulder more shoulders for us? Jiang Zemin smiled and said: Your newspaper is no longer a tabloid, the whole world knows it. If I have to take some responsibility, then of course I will take it for the benefit of the party and the people.

Liu Xiaosheng said with a smile: In this regular meeting, I had a very brief close contact with Jiang Zemin. It was when we urinated in the toilet together. We only had a urinating time and did not talk to each other.

Liu Xiaosheng continued: After Jiang Zemin secured his position as the supreme leader of China, he also began to build his own prestige and authority, trying to follow in the footsteps of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, establishing a cult of personality, and ensuring that his position in the party would not be compromised by others. Challenges and shocks.

After the "June 4th Incident", some conservative veterans retained important influence in the army. Jiang Zemin has no military background, but with these veterans gradually withdrawing from the stage of history, he gradually took control of the military. He also proposed that military personnel be prohibited from doing business.

In the summer of 1989, the CCP sent troops to suppress student petitioners who gathered in Tiananmen Square. He once emphasized that "the absolute leadership of the party over the army is the eternal soul of our army, and we must unswervingly adhere to the fundamental principles and systems of the party leading the people's army."

Like his predecessors, Jiang Zemin also tried to refine his own theoretical thinking in the ideological field as his political legacy.

When Jiang Zemin was in power, some people questioned "the working class leads everything", thinking that the market economy has enriched the powerful and the working class is no longer the master of society.

In order to further develop the theory of the Communist Party, Jiang Zemin put forward the "Three Represents" thought, that is, "The Communist Party of China must always represent the development requirements of China's advanced social productive forces, always represent the direction of China's advanced culture, and always represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people." ".

In fact, so many experts and scholars in the world have overlooked an important point: the thought of "Three Represents" lists those powerful elites as "representatives" of "China's advanced social productive forces". This "representative" is much higher than the "working class". Therefore, these "representatives" quickly took on the titles of "representatives" of the "National People's Congress" and "CPPCC".

The "Three Represents" thought was later written into the "Constitution of the Communist Party of China" and "Constitution of the People's Republic of China".

Jiang Zemin's "Three Represents" thought did not get rid of his technical bureaucratic limitations, and did not have breakthrough sublimation and improvement on the theoretical level. As a political legacy, it appears to be very weak.

At the same time, Jiang Zemin also suppressed domestic dissidents and Falun Gong with an iron fist. Taking a tough stance on Taiwan led to the outbreak of the third Taiwan Strait crisis. Critics also believe that he has no intention of promoting the reform of China's political system, making the CCP continue to move towards autocracy.

Among them, the crackdown on Falun Gong has left a highly controversial record on his human rights record. Falun Gong is a qigong practice method proposed by Li Hongzhi. It rose rapidly in China in the mid-to-late 1990s, attracting tens of millions of people to join the organization and gradually attracting the attention of the CCP.

In April 1990, when Chen Yun wrote to Jiang Zemin, he suddenly mentioned the issue of using religion to carry out counter-revolutionary activities. He said: "Using religion to compete with us for the masses, especially young people, is a common tactic of foreign class enemies, and it is also a tactic of certain people. It is a painful lesson for some countries led by the Communist Party to lose power. The central government should really grasp this important matter, and now is the time!" However, Chen Yun passed away in April 1995.

Jiang Zemin attached great importance to Chen Yun's letter. Combining with Chen Yun's question of "using religion to carry out counter-revolutionary activities", Jiang Zemin conducted an investigation and research on Falun Gong proposed by Li Hongzhi.

So in 1996, the CCP's propaganda machine "Guangming Daily" publicly called Falun Gong a "feudal superstition," which aroused dissatisfaction among Falun Gong practitioners across China. They began to demonstrate and protest against institutions critical of Falun Gong from time to time.

In April 1999, 10,000 Falun Gong members held a peaceful demonstration in front of Zhongnanhai in Beijing to protest the arrest of several of their leaders. Since then, China has begun to suppress Falun Gong activities on a large scale, labeling Falun Gong as a cult. State media has also described Falun Gong as an organization that spreads falsehoods, misleads the masses, and endangers social stability. But Falun Gong members insist they are a law-abiding peaceful organization that uses meditation and qigong exercises to keep fit.

Falun Gong has a large number of members and penetrates into different levels of Chinese society. It will undoubtedly feel a threat to the CCP regime that just experienced the "Tiananmen" incident ten years ago. The ban on Falun Gong is also very comprehensive, involving every corner of China. From 1999 to 2000, millions of practitioners quit the organization due to the ban, and more than 30,000 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested. The persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese authorities continues to this day. However, domestic and foreign media, experts and scholars always point the finger at Jiang Zemin when they talk about the persecution of Falun Gong, but no one would think of Chen Yun's letter to Jiang Zemin.

Jiang Zemin tried to improve China's international image after securing a stable domestic position, and he was very happy to use his knowledge and background to attract the attention of the international community.

After the June 4 Tiananmen incident, the international community had mixed opinions on the Chinese government's actions. Most of the international community condemned the government of the People's Republic of China to drive away the demonstrators by force. Many Western countries also imposed economic sanctions at one time and have imposed an arms embargo to this day. The Chinese government's use of force to suppress the protests has drawn criticism from Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, Australia, and some West Asian and Latin American countries. Western governments and news media have severely condemned this.

But it is worth noting that many Asian countries continued to remain silent during the protests. On the one hand, the Indian government ordered the national TV station to reduce relevant reports so as not to damage relations with China, but on the other hand, it also expressed concern for the people who died because of the Chinese army clearing the field Express sympathy.

Most of the African countries that responded to the incident believed that the incident was China's internal affairs and expressed sympathy for the incident.

According to the diplomatic documents around 1989 released by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on December 23, 2020, the Japanese government decided on June 4 to be friendly with China and opposed Western sanctions against China.

North Korea, Pakistan, Cuba, Romania, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, and some Middle Eastern and African countries expressed their support for the Chinese government's approach and condemned the relevant protests.

In order to express support for the demonstrations on Tiananmen Square, many overseas Chinese students launched demonstrations in cities in Europe, America, the Middle East, and Asia, and began to organize the "Huaxia Digest" that provides news services on the Internet and create non-governmental organizations China Democracy Support International; and after the Chinese army used force to disperse the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, these overseas Chinese organized groups such as the China Democratic Solidarity League and the National Association of Chinese Students and Scholars, and had certain political influence.

For many Western countries, however, the Chinese government's handling of the Tiananmen Square protests has damaged its international reputation. Many Western news outlets shifted from coverage of the planned Sino-Soviet summit in May to coverage of the early martial law actions. Demonstrators seized the opportunity and began producing signs and flags for international TV viewers, which also made the West The society expressed sympathy for the protests of Chinese students. And while the Chinese government is hesitant about how to handle media coverage of the demonstrations, it also means providing a relatively relaxed environment for Chinese and overseas journalists to cover the protests. Video recordings of the protests strongly influenced Western perceptions of China and related policies in the 20 years since the event. The image of one of the men blocking the advance of the tank became an important symbol of the event, known as "Tank Man", and has long been a symbol of citizens' resistance to authoritarian regimes in Western society. "Time" magazine listed him as one of the 100 most important figures of the 20th century with the "Unknown Rebel".

On the other hand, for Hong Kong, which was still a British colony at the time, the occurrence of the June 4 incident made the public fear whether China would violate its promise of "one country, two systems" after the handover of sovereignty in 1997. In response, Hong Kong Governor Patten attempted to introduce political reforms to the Legislative Council, which has caused friction between the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government. For many Hong Kong people, the suppression of the protests in Tiananmen Square became a turning point, and many people lost trust in the Chinese government. In addition, Hong Kong citizens generally felt uncertain about Hong Kong's status after the handover of sovereignty. Before 1997, there was a large-scale immigration wave, and many people went to live in Western countries such as Canada or Australia. In order to prevent the outflow of talents with the flow of immigrants, the British government agreed to allow the Hong Kong government to implement the British right of abode plan, granting some Hong Kong people formal British citizenship. Since 1990, tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong have participated in the large-scale "Victoria Park June 4th Candlelight Show" organized by the Hong Kong Citizens Support Patriotic Democratic Movement Federation every year. After Hong Kong was transferred to China in 1997, related commemorative activities continued.

After the June 4th incident, Macao fell into white terror under the Chinese government's reckoning. Two high-profile organizations fighting for the redress of the "June 4th" incident were violently attacked. Among them, Nie Guorui, the leader of the "Beijing Student Movement Group of Dongdong University Students", was beaten with a glass After being hit on the head with a bottle, it was disbanded. Members of the Democratic Federation scattered due to professional threats, family pressure, economic blockade and violent attacks. Wu Guochang, who was the manager of the Bank of China at the time, resigned under pressure. He was fired, and was hit on the head with a wooden stick later. Most of the members of the Democratic League left except for Au Jinxin and Wu Guochang. Later, the two entered politics successively and entered the Legislative Council through direct elections. Until now, the two still insist on holding June Fourth memorial rallies.

  After the June 4th incident, European-made military equipment, including Typhoon fighter jets, was restricted by the arms ban and could not be exported to the People's Republic of China.

After the June 4th incident, China's image changed from an anti-Soviet ally that launched modernization reforms to a Stalinist authoritarian state that suppressed demonstrators. After that, the blue team opposing free trade between China and the United States also mentioned the June 4th incident many times, and believed that China would pose a threat to the maintenance of world peace and the United States' own interests. The news that the army cleared the site by force has also had a significant impact on the Chinese economy, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and some foreign governments have called for a suspension of loans to China; and in addition to the cancellation of many foreign direct investment commitments, China China's travel and tourism revenue also decreased from US$2.2 billion to US$1.8 billion.

At the same time, both the European Union and the United States decided to implement an arms embargo policy against China, which continues to this day. Other countries that were willing to supply weapons and equipment to China included Israel and South Africa, but under pressure from the United States, they also gradually stopped such cooperation.

After the "June 4th Incident", China faced sanctions and blockades from the Western world headed by the United States, but repairing Sino-US relations is crucial to China's reform and opening up.

Jiang Zemin has repeatedly mentioned the principles of relations with the United States, that is, "increase trust, reduce troubles, develop cooperation, and not engage in confrontation." process.

In Jiang Zemin's series of foreign visits, he left a deep impression on people with his strong personal style. During Jiang Zemin's period, although Sino-US relations experienced several thrilling frictions, they always ended peacefully.

In 1995, when Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui visited the United States, he became the first top Taiwan official to visit the United States since Taiwan and the United States broke off diplomatic relations 17 years ago. In response, the People's Liberation Army conducted military exercises and launched missiles in the Taiwan Strait for several months, triggering a crisis in the Taiwan Strait. After the United States assigned two aircraft carriers to pass through the Taiwan Strait, the situation stabilized.

In 1999, during the bombing of Yugoslavia by the US-led NATO, five GPS-guided bombs hit the Chinese embassy, ​​killing three people and injuring at least 20. Major Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai then erupted against the US. Jiang Zemin expressed support for such patriotic demonstrations at a time when China was preparing to join the WTO, but asked cadres at all levels to pay attention to avoiding excessive behavior so that the situation did not get out of control. In the end, no Americans died in the protests, and a compensation agreement between the two sides allowed Beijing to put the matter on hold.

When Jiang Zemin paid a state visit to the Philippines in 1996, on the yacht of Philippine President Ramos, the two leaders jointly sang Elvis Presley's song "Love Me Tenderly" and danced to the music.

When Jiang Zemin visited the United States, he confidently sang Peking Opera and played the guitar, and "talked and laughed happily" in English with Wallace, an American reporter who had interviewed Deng Xiaoping.

Jiang Zemin also made rare public outbursts. In 2000, Zhang Baohua, a female reporter from Hong Kong Cable TV, asked Jiang Zemin at a press conference about the re-election of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, "whether the central government has hand-picked it", and Jiang Zemin angrily reprimanded Zhang Baohua. During the accusation process, Jiang Zemin claimed that "as an elder", "it is necessary to tell you a little life experience", accusing Hong Kong reporters of being "too young (too young)" after all, asking questions "too simple, sometimes naive (too simple, sometimes naive)". Zhang Baohua recalled to BBC Chinese that the moment he saw his expression, he already knew that he was "really angry". And she believes that from this point, Jiang Zemin is a leader with "true temperament". "Leaders generally have a dignified look when facing the camera, but he has a real temperament, that is, what you look like when you lose your temper." Zhang Baohua said: "Compared to generations of leaders, Jiang Zemin’s personality is very strong, one is because of his own personality, and the other is that he is really in power. If you are in power, speak louder.”

After Deng Xiaoping left the leadership, Chen Yun, Yang Shangkun, Bo Yibo, Xi Zhongxun and other veterans also gradually faded out of the political arena with the implementation of "abolishing the lifelong system of cadre leadership positions". Afterwards, a new generation of central leadership composed of Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, and Li Ruihuan officially took over. Afterwards, the abolition of the lifelong tenure system for leading cadres continued in the post-Deng Xiaoping era, and was not abolished until the 2018 constitutional revision.