Jiang Zemin funeral: Xi Jinping hails late leader for steering China through tough times and defying Western pressure
- Xi vows to carry on with opening up to the world while also working for ‘national rejuvenation’
- Hu Jintao among notable absentees but attended a closed-door memorial a day earlier
He also praised the late leader for standing up to foreign pressure, fending off Taiwan separatists, and ensuring the smooth handover of Hong Kong and Macau to China during his 13 years at the helm.
“Some Western countries imposed ‘sanctions’ on China, and socialism in China was met with unprecedented difficulty and pressure,” Xi said, referring to the late 1980s and early 1990s when the West turned its back on China after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.
Jiang conducted a “diplomatic struggle” and resolutely defended China’s independence, dignity, security and stability, he said.
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Xi Jinping pays tribute to late Chinese president Jiang Zemin at state funeral in Beijing
The memorial service was the highest-level event of its kind since the state funeral for paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1997 and came at a particularly sensitive time.
Addressing the funeral, Xi pledged the country would continue to open up to the world and carry out reforms.
“Reform and opening up is the crucial way to determine the future of China … China’s development cannot be achieved without the world, and the world’s prosperity needs China too,” Xi said.
But he also made a rally call for unity to achieve “national rejuvenation”, a goal he has regularly cited since becoming the party’s leader.
Why former leader Hu Jintao did not attend Jiang Zemin’s funeral
Thousands of party leaders and elites attended the ceremony, which capped a week of official mourning for the influential leader.
As the service began, sirens sounded across the country and trading in stocks, bonds, foreign exchange and gold stopped for three minutes.
In Hong Kong, government agencies, hospitals and schools also observed a moment of silence. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and about 100 of his principal officials gathered at government headquarters to watch the live broadcast of the memorial service.
There was also a conspicuously heavy police presence in many parts of Beijing, especially near sensitive areas such as Tiananmen Square and the Great Hall.
Throughout the service, Xi was flanked by incumbent and retired Politburo members and stood alongside Jiang’s bereaved family. Together they observed three minutes of silence and bowed to a giant photograph of Jiang at the centre of a stage decorated with wreaths of white chrysanthemums.
The setting was similar to Deng Xiaoping’s state funeral in 1997.
Jiang’s widow, Wang Yeping, was in a wheelchair and was accompanied by the couple’s two sons. Wang appeared frail and was comforted by a carer as the memorial service began.
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Chinese ex-leader Jiang Zemin’s body makes final journey to Beijing as China mourns
Jiang, who was party chief from 1989 to 2002, and head of the military until 2004, died at the age of 96 in Shanghai from leukaemia and multi-organ failure on Wednesday.
He became party chief after he was promoted by Deng to replace Zhao Ziyang, who was purged over his sympathy with the students during the 1989 Tiananmen student movement.
Former president Hu Jintao did not attend the service on Tuesday, but was present alongside Xi and other leaders at the closed-door memorial service on Monday. It was Hu’s first public appearance since his sudden departure at the closing of the party congress in October.
Zhu, reportedly in poor health, has not been seen at many state events in recent years.
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‘I’ve not really done anything special’: when Jiang Zemin reflected on his time as China’s leader
During his address on Tuesday, Xi quoted Jiang as saying China should have the courage to “overcome all enemies” and the elegance not to bow to pressure.
Xi repeatedly praised Jiang for steering the country through many tough times, including the 1997 Asian financial crisis and devastating floods that hit southern China in 1998.
He also praised Jiang for his effort to promote “democratisation of international relations” – a veiled reference to China’s efforts to counter US dominance – by setting up platforms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Xi also praised Jiang for the formulation of the “three represents”, a political theory that allowed private businesspeople to join the party.
Some of Xi’s praise for Jiang mirrored Xi’s own policy priorities. For example, he highlighted Jiang’s firm stand against “Taiwan separatists”, his anticorruption crackdown and efforts to reform the military into a combat-ready force.
He also praised Jiang for voluntarily stepping down from the Central Committee in 2002 and relinquishing his Central Military Commission post in 2004.
Beijing to cut traffic in city’s west for Jiang Zemin memorial service
“After retiring from leadership roles, comrade Jiang Zemin was determined to support the work of the party’s Central Committee … and firmly supported the battle against corruption to build a clean government,” Xi said.
However, Xi’s eulogy was unlike Jiang’s emotional address at Deng’s funeral 25 years ago, when Jiang wept openly.
On Tuesday, Xi appeared solemn and used the last part of this speech to call for unity and support for his leadership in “a new journey” for the country.
“In the new journey, we have to be sober and be firm … to be able to achieve the ‘two safeguards’ … so that the party can always be the strong leading core in the new era,” Xi said, referring to a term that calls for absolute loyalty to Xi.
Additional reporting by William Zheng, and Zhuang Pinghui
