As a last farewell to the leader who died last week, stock trading on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges was suspended for three minutes. Xi Jinping praises his harsh response to the 1989 “political storm”: a warning also to those protesting today
Three minutes of silence across China. Then mourning sirens, red flags at half-mast. Hi-tech giant Tencent also attended the national mourning for the memorial service honoring late President Jiang Zemin this morning and shut down its video games; Stock trading on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges was also suspended for three minutes. And then Xi Jinping’s speech in the Great Hall of the People, dominated by a blast from the leader, who died last week at the age of 96. Xi praised Jiang’s “firm stance and correct decision” in stabilizing a period of “severe political turmoil, when world socialism ran into serious complications and some Western countries imposed “so-called sanctions” on China.”
The reference is to the Tiananmen Square repression of June 1989: thousands of students were massacred as the party state felt threatened by its demands for a more decent political system. Remembering today the harsh response to the “political storm” of 1989 sounds like a warning, even to those thousands of Chinese who took to the streets of various cities in late November to protest, angered by the “Covid Zero” policies that were being imposed now is softened. In addition, Xi and his companions wore a mask at the ceremony to signal that the emergency is not over.
Jiang Zemin was appointed secretary-general in 1989 by decision of the wise Deng Xiaoping. Back then, after the Tiananmen Square brutality, China needed a trustworthy man, a man of order who would be able to continue the grand opening of the market. Jiang’s line, expressing a collegial choice, differed from that of Xi, who returned to a centralized political-economic leadership inspired by Marxism-Leninism. Under Jiang, China drew (diplomatically) closer to the world between 1989 and 2003, joining the World Trade Organization in 2001 and using the period of stability to spur growth at a rapid pace. The suppression of civil and political liberties continued, but quietly: China had to cooperate with the West, and globalized industry bet on the expanding Chinese market. Xi has re-centralized all powers and is challenging the rest of the world in his quest for “a new order.”
Xi Jinping only emphasized the continuity points in his speech today, which lasted about an hour: he glorified “brave comrade Jiang, the great Marxist and proletarian revolutionary” who opposed Taiwan’s independence (by firing missiles in the Straits in 1996). and in 1997 he crowned the reunification of Hong Kong with the motherland and in 1999 that of Macau. The ceremony, which took place behind closed doors and reserved for executives only, was broadcast live on Beijing television. Which was also told yesterday when communist mandarins paraded in front of Jiang’s coffin at a military hospital.
And yesterday, Hu Jintao was briefly attached, Jiang’s successor and Xi’s predecessor, protagonist in October of a major episode of the new era. On Oct. 22, at the close of the congress that assigned Xi to a third term as secretary-general and put an end to Deng-designed architecture to avoid the risk of absolute and lifelong power, the elderly Hu, 79, was forced to stand up from his seat at the ring and escorted out. Hours later, Xinhua said he was not feeling well and was confused. However, a public humiliation that showed all comrades in the Central Committee and Politburo that the days of collegial leadership, of the influence of the old leaders behind the scenes, are over. Hu Jintao walked past Jiang’s coffin Monday, followed by a young officer whose face was covered by a surgical mask, and then returned to the shadows.
December 6, 2022 (change December 6, 2022 | 3:10 p.m.)
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