What Jiang Zemin represented and why his death comes at a pivotal time for China

It felt like 2011 when, remembering his “frog” glasses, he was presumed dead and then reappeared live nationally during the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the revolution.

It was perhaps one of the first fake news that we weren’t used to, but this time it’s no joke. Jiang Zemin, the leader who turned China into a global power, died on Wednesday at the age of 96. Ruled the Communist Party of China (CPC) Chinese for 13 years and was president from 1993 to 2003.

According to an official CCP statement released by state media, the cause must be attributed to leukemia and the failure of various organs. He is described by public cheers in recent hours as an “outstanding and reputable leader” who led China through “enormous difficulties” leading the country to “market growth” and “military modernization”.

Side A: Hong Kong and WTO

An engineer, born in the summer of 1926 in Yangzhou (Jiangsu), headed the faction of technocrats with which he assumed leadership of the CCP after the Tiananmen repression. He was the author of the economic opening reforms proposed by Deng Xiaoping in the early nineties that transformed China into the world’s second economic power.

Management of Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997 and its entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 are certainly among the main historical points of his policy. At the center of his vision was the ideal of “rejuvenation”, or emancipation from the historical humiliation suffered in recent centuries and claim their place in history through the country’s growth and the party’s steadfast political leadership.

The merits were not just economic. Since the beginning of his term, Jiang has considered opening the doors to foreign journalists, as well as abolishing the one-child policy.

Clinics that performed forced abortions were gradually transformed into maternity hospitals with fertility treatments and family support. However, as with any other nation that becomes a manufacturing power based on state capitalism, development has brought important new social and political dilemmas.

First, leading to growing inequalities. As the first billionaires were being born, conditions across much of the country were critical. This factor has led to an immeasurable increase in corruption and the difficulty of reconciling the market with communist ideology and the lack of political reforms.

Side B: Falung Gong and Taiwan

Above all, there were several strong repressions that we witnessed in the late 1990s, such as the protests of farmers against the reforms or the Falun Gong religious movement, for which we speak of thousands of victims among dead and arrested in 1999.

Falun Gong achieved a following greater than the then 64 million members of the Communist Party itself, and as reported by Ethan Gutmann of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies during a session of the US Congress: “I estimate that 65,000 practitioners were killed by their organs”.

In fact, Jiang’s approach to human rights has been repeatedly criticizedboth with regard to the arrest of university researchers and intellectuals and with regard to the Tibetan question, for which he was also accused of genocide and crimes against humanity in 2005 by the Tibet Support Committee.

One of Jiang’s merits is undoubtedly having centralized and modernized the army, a fundamental factor also for Xi which, however, led, not unlike today, to a worsening of relations with the island of Formosa, generating the Third Party Crisis. Taiwan Strait. The dynamic was not very different from today, the effect of missile tests in the waters around Taipei in 1995 and 1996.

However, Jiang also placed a lot of emphasis on relations with the United States: “He has always considered relations with the US primaries and I think he took risks to move them forward.” says Christopher Johnson, a member of the CIA during the former president’s term, “however, he also knew how to reverse anti-American positions when he wanted to”.

The Ascension to the Throne

The way in which Jiang came to power is first and foremost the result of Deng’s will who, after Zhao Ziyang’s removal and imprisonment -because he did not authorize an armed intervention against Tiananmen students- observed that the Shanghai party secretary, who grew administratively in Guangdong and Fujian, dealt with the riots without bloodshed. “This Jiang Zemin has ideas, skills and also charisma,” Deng said at a meeting in 1989.

At first, risking his own position, Jiang tried to reconcile the opinions of the conservative factions of the Party that opposed the opening of the market, but in the end he decided to implement Deng’s vision and state capitalism🇧🇷 “The elders were divided and Jiang Zemin tried to please both sides,” said Beijing historian Yang Jisheng, “yet in doing so he ended up displeasing Deng Xiaoping.”

The Descent: From Jiang to Xi

According to Jiang himself, 1992 was the hardest year of his life, but leaving power 10 years later was not easy either. Hu Jintao, his successor, had been appointed by Deng himself, but despite this there was reluctance to hand over the scepter and Zemin’s influence continued in the following decades throughout his circle of power, for example, maintaining control of the Central Military Commission until 2004 or supporting your men in the right positions.

Jiang ended up building a leadership that was inherited by Xi in 2012. The former president’s influence, from his so-called Shanghai circle, lasted a long time.

In 2015, the party newspaper Quotidiano del Popolo argued with some vehemence that retired leaders should “stay out of politics” and “refresh themselves like a cup of tea after a guest leaves”. A comment that was rumored to be a message from Xi to rein in his predecessor’s attempts.

The Common Man and the Emperor

Without a doubt, Jiang differed from Xi, not only in his more inspired view of Deng’s socioeconomic openness, but also in his attitudes. As stated by Katrina Yu of Al Jazeera, “While Jiang was seen as an ordinary man, Xi is depicted today as an emperor.”

He frequently addressed the press in English, told jokes, played the pianosang Italian opera and Elvis rock, danced the cha-cha-cha, dove into Hawaiian waters and performed on the ukulele. Attitudes light years away from Xi’s calm seriousness.

And yet, despite this, there are many traits that unite the two Presidents, from the most profound ones – such as the desire for “rejuvenation” for China, the consolidation of the power of the party and the army – to the lightest ones – such as the passion for Hollywood movies. Both found their power base in Shanghai and both were initially framed and described as lacking in charisma, but went on to become the longest-serving leaders in power after Mao and Deng. Jiang talked about revoking the one-child policy, Xi did.

The first cracked down on Falun Gong, the second on the Uighurs. Likewise, Xi’s policies in Hong Kong and Taiwan are not as radically different from what Jiang initiated as the current leadership.

China’s new era

In fact, last month, during the 20th CPC Congress, Xi installed the new Politburo Standing Committee. Now, the seven men who rule China are all loyal to him, with no close ties to the officials of his predecessors Jiang and Hu.

With Jiang’s death and Hu’s removal from Congress, we see the leadership that marked the transition between Deng Xiaoping and the current presidency leaving the scene, and we fully enter the “new Chinese era”.

Lastly, his death and commemorative ceremonies come at a critical time for China and the Party as they face a wave of protests against the Covid-zero policy, restrictions and socio-economic crisis.

A protest that does not necessarily intend to be the biggest since Tiananmen Square, but which, like this one, has its roots in an extremely widespread social discontent, which undermines the legitimacy of the party at the same time as the death of a leader considered closest of the people, as was the funeral of Hu Yaobang in 1989, which brought millions of people to the streets across the country.