China held a public memorial service for former President Jiang Zemin Tuesday morning, an event that comes with police still deployed on the streets of the Asian nation’s capital and financial hub to deter further protests against harsh Covid Zero rules.
(Bloomberg) — China held a public memorial service for former President Jiang Zemin Tuesday morning, an event that comes with police still deployed on the streets of the Asian nation’s capital and financial hub to deter further protests against harsh Covid Zero rules.
Senior leaders and other elites gathered to remember Jiang, whose term as head of the ruling Communist Party from 1989 to 2002 coincided with China’s economy more than tripling in size.
The ceremony started with a moment of silence, one marked by sirens sounding in central areas of Beijing and Shanghai. Xi then spoke about Jiang’s accomplishments before a crowd at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing that included other top leaders.
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In a sign of lingering tension China, police continue to patrol protest sites in Beijing and Shanghai, two of the dozens of cities where demonstrations erupted early last week against the government’s zero-tolerance approach to eradicating the coronavirus. That unrest was the biggest display of civil disobedience in China in decades. In the days since then, the government has taken steps to ease some of its restrictions.
Similar protests have occurred in other cities around the world. Some 200 demonstrators gathered near the White House on Sunday, shouting “Free China,” the Associated Press reported. A bipartisan group of US senators has warned China of “grave consequences” to ties between the world’s two biggest economies if a violent crackdown was unleashed on peaceful protesters.
China hit back at the lawmakers on Monday, when Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing in Beijing that they didn’t know enough about her nation. The Chinese government is “listening to the voices of the people,” she added.
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Frustration with tough Covid rules remains in China. Students at a university in Wuhan demonstrated on Sunday over what they said were confusing travel rules and access to food. Millions of people in that central city were locked down in early 2020 for more than two months, setting a precedent that has been repeated across the nation many times since, most notably in Shanghai earlier this year.
There had been concerns that Jiang’s death could provide a rallying point for protesters, though worries have faded some given moves by authorities in several major cities to ease testing requirements and the appearance at least that Xi is now shifting away from Covid Zero.
Jiang’s funeral gives Xi the opportunity “to project his own power and authority,” said Neil Thomas, a senior China analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk advisory and consulting firm
“Xi is leading an elaborate show of mourning for Jiang that foregrounds continuity and unity in party rule but emphasizes that China has never been stronger than under Xi’s leadership,” he said.
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The memorial service is a heavily scripted affair, like most events held by the Communist Party. The people that lined the streets of Shanghai and Beijing recently to watch his hearse pass by were apparently organized by the government, and photos that circulated online seemed to show people being bused to specific locations.
Jiang’s death has also prompted a wave of nostalgia on Chinese social media, with internet users remembering him as colorful and erudite. One clip that was shared widely showed him playing conductor as senior leaders sang at a gala for China’s writers and artists in late 2001.
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The memorial for Jiang — whose death in Shanghai at the age of 96 was announced by state media on Nov. 30 — may give the public another glimpse of former President Hu Jintao, who was mysteriously escorted out of a major party congress in October. It wasn’t immediately clear if Hu was at the ceremony Tuesday.
Hu, president in the decade following Jiang, attended a tribute for the former leader at Chinese PLA General Hospital in Beijing on Monday morning, accompanied by an attendant, according to China Central Television — his first public appearance in some six weeks.
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The 79-year-old seemed confused when he was led offstage halfway through the closing session of the twice-a-decade leadership reshuffle that handed Xi more time in power. State media later said Hu felt unwell, though speculation was rampant that the unscripted moment was a display of power by Xi.
–With assistance from Lucille Liu.
(Updates with memorial service starting.)
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