Despite strong internal opposition, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) later this week will officially restore the reputation of a liberal-leaning leader whose death helped inspire pro-democracy protests.
"In the middle of November, a commemoration to mark the 90th anniversary of Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦) will be held in Beijing," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (劉建超) told a briefing yesterday.
"The central leadership, the party, political and military and other leaders from the grassroots will be present at the meeting, and the central leadership will deliver a speech," he said.
PHOTO: AP
The party has not publicly honored Hu Yaobang since his death in April 1989, which gave rise to student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. Those protests, against corruption, inflation and political repression, persisted until the army violently suppressed them on June 4 of that year.
President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) decided early this year to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Hu Yaobang's birth. Party observers said the president aimed to soften his hard-line image and strengthen the 72-million-member Communist Youth League, his political base within the CCP.
The youth league was also considered to be the support network of the late Hu, who lost his position as CCP general secretary after a power struggle in 1987.
While restoring the stature of Hu Yaobang is unlikely to lead to a broad political opening soon, it does give a glimpse of the complex politicking within the ruling elite.
It also shows the enduring sensitivity of the people and events connected with the 1989 protests.
Observers say the June 4 killings will haunt the party until it can acknowledge having bloodily suppressed the mainly peaceful pro-democracy protests and pays respect to the hundreds of people killed, injured or purged in the crackdown.
Hu Jintao persisted in his decision about Hu Yaobang's birthday even though four of the nine members of the Politburo's Standing Committee expressed concern that the move could threaten stability, said people who had been told about the debate.
The four, one of whom was Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶), were said to have different reasons for their opposition. But all were said to have argued that the move could risk giving people the idea that the circumstances surrounding the 1989 demonstrations, which the CCP has condemned as an anti-government plot, might be open for discussion.
Opposition to the commemoration was first reported earlier this month by Open, a political magazine based in Hong Kong, and was confirmed by people close to the late leader's family.
Hu Jintao is said to have overruled the objections and ordered the commemoration to proceed, arguing that while students may have invoked the late Hu's name when their protests began, the former leader had no responsibility for the demonstrations.
But possibly reflecting the sensitivity, President Hu has dropped plans to attend the memorial ceremony in person and rescheduled it to take place on Friday, when he will meet in South Korea with other Asian and Pacific leaders, instead of Sunday, the actual 90th anniversary of Hu Yaobang's birth.
The ceremony will amount to a posthumous rehabilitation for Hu, who is remembered as having favored a faster pace of political change than other officials considered prudent.
The fact that his death precipitated the Tiananmen Square protests left his legacy in limbo. The party did not publish the usual account of his life and achievements.
The commemoration will be held at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square and is to be attended by 300 people, including current and retired leaders and intellectuals, most of them invited by Hu's surviving relatives.
There will also be services in Hunan Province, where Hu was born, and Jiangxi Province, the historical base of the Communist Youth League.
People close to the family said at least three members of the Politburo Standing Committee would attend the Beijing event: Wu Guanzheng (
Wen was prevailed on to make an appearance despite having expressed concern that restoring Hu's stature could lead to calls to rehabilitate Zhao Ziyang (
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
RSS