While locked up behind the walls of his barbed-wired house and prevented from seeing most friends and former associates, Zhao kept abreast of what was happening in China and never lost his concern for the country, Zong said.
"He especially liked to talk about farmers, laid-off workers and the rich-poor gap," Zong said.
Zhao did not resent China's new generation of leaders -- who worked under him and were his proteges in the 1980s -- for not releasing him after they came into power in 2002 and 2003.
"They were only carrying out the policy," Zong said.
Neither Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) nor President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) visited Zhao or contacted him during his incarceration, he said.
Zong said the publisher of an earlier book in which he briefly quoted Zhao is too afraid to touch the new manuscript after being harassed by police. Zong said he intends to get the book published despite the pressure because of his respect for history and for Zhao.
"They want people to forget Zhao Ziyang ... In my view, the purging of Zhao Ziyang is China's sorrow. Because of this, we did not go down the path of democracy," he said.
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