Here’s the first piece I’ve seen on the publication of the late Zhao Ziyang’s memoirs in Hong Kong, a book based on conversations with a close friend of his during his many years under house arrest. It sounds as if it will live up to its advanced billing as something that will, to put it mildly, cause great discomfort among the Chinese leadership, even though, as Mark O Neill writes in this very good article, the book itself will never see the light of day on the mainland. It’ll be very interesting to see the extent to which it is discussed on the web, and the extent to which the authorities will go toward shutting down that conversation.
The link to the full piece is here: http://www.asiasentinel.com
What folos is the first few grafs of the piece…
Source: Asia Sentinel (3/12/07)
>
> What China Might Have Been
> By Mark Oneill
>
Zhao Ziyang¹s thoughts, available in a new book, point to his vision of change in China. The deposed Party Chief supported more elections, party democracy, and accountability.
> Speaking from the grave, a remarkable Chinese political figure is calling
or drastic changes in the Communist Party, including the elimination of the
post of party chief, the abolition of party branches in ministries and
companies, the introduction of independent trade unions and direct popular
> election of officials up to the city level.
> In life, Zhao Ziyang, who was prime minister and party general secretary fo nine years until he was purged after he refused to sanction the crackdown and massacre of protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989, was an unpleasant reality for Beijing, a popular reformer who was kept under house arrest until he died in January 2005.
> In death, he is responsible for one of the most outspoken documents to
come out of China since 1949 a 300,000-word record of Zhao¹s
conversations from 1991 to 2004 with a close friend during his captivity. The Chinese language book, which appeared in Hong Kong bookstores this month, is called ³Zhao Ziyang: Captive Conversations.²
It is almost unimaginable that the book will be allowed into the mainland.