BEIJING: Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji’s death has added a new dimension to China’s high-profile remembrance of former President Jiang Zemin, bringing increased attention to a pivotal period of reform and opening for the world’s second-largest economy, say analysts.
But it also raises questions over how the country’s current leadership wants that legacy to be understood today, they add.
Zhu died from illness on Aug 12 at the age of 97, just five days before Jiang’s birth centenary, which Beijing is marking with a series of high-profile commemorative activities.
Zhu’s remains will be cremated in Beijing on Tuesday (Aug 18), when national flags will be flown at half-mast at key government sites across the country, including in Hong Kong and Macau, as well as at Chinese diplomatic missions overseas, state news agency Xinhua reported.
The two men served alongside each other at the top of China’s leadership from 1998 to 2003. Zhu served as premier alongside Jiang, who was already Communist Party chief since 1989 and president since 1993.
“The image of Jiang and Zhu as decisive problem-solvers will be more prominently constructed and promoted,” Hou Yichao, a researcher of China’s political economy and former research assistant at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), a Singapore think-tank.
He added that this image aligns with current leadership messaging on confronting difficult challenges and pursuing change.
Zhu’s reputation for pushing through tough economic reforms and taking on entrenched obstacles also gives his legacy added relevance today, Hou said.
At the same time, Beijing’s framing of the Jiang-Zhu era serves a dual purpose: celebrating the achievements of reform while presenting President Xi Jinping’s leadership as necessary to address problems left unresolved by China’s rapid transformation, analysts said.
WHY JIANG’S LEGACY IS BACK IN FOCUS
Jiang’s centenary has placed his legacy back in the official spotlight.
On Aug 11, state broadcaster CCTV began airing a 12-part documentary titled “Jiang Zemin”, which it said chronicles Jiang’s more than seven decades of political life and his contributions to the party and state.
The series is a joint production by the Communist Party’s propaganda department, party history institute, broadcast regulator and CCTV.
It is being aired in a prominent evening slot, with two episodes broadcast each night from Aug 11 to Aug 16, according to CCTV’s programme schedule.
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