China stalemate in honor of Jiang Zemin, with sirens ringing across the country for three minutes of silence.
China is saying goodbye to Jiang Zemin, with sirens wailing in remembrance as people across the country observe three minutes of silence for the former president.
Public memorial service for Jiang, who passed away last week at the age of 96, which began at 10 a.m. local time (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, attended by President Xi Jinping and other top leaders. The event was broadcast live nationwide.
Jiang led China out of isolation after the war army suppresses student-led pro-democracy protests focused on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, and supported economic reforms that led to a decade of explosive growth.
A highly trained engineer and former head of China’s largest city, Shanghai, Jiang was president for a decade until 2003 and led the ruling Communist Party for 13 years until 2003. 2002. After taking over reform leader Deng Xiaoping, he oversaw the Government Hong Kong’s return from British rule in 1997 and Beijing’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001.
The ruling Communist Party declared him a “great proletarian revolutionary” and a “long-tested Communist soldier”.
“Jiang Zemin is an outstanding leader with high reputation,” read the biography titled “Jiang Zemin’s Great, Glorious Life” published Tuesday by the official news agency Xinhua. .
“Throughout the revolutionary career of more than 70 years, he has remained steadfastly unwavering in the communist ideal, absolutely loyal to the party and people, and resolutely loyal to the cause of the party and the people.”
In Jiang’s hometown of Yangzhou, about 100 people gathered in front of his former residence on Tuesday to observe silence.
Flags across the country and at Chinese government buildings abroad have flown at half-mast.
Stock markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen suspended trading for three minutes, as did the China Gold and Silver Exchange in Hong Kong. Public entertainment was also suspended, with some online games like the popular League of Legends announcing a one-day halt.
Jiang died of leukemia and multiple organ failure on November 30, according to state media.
Xi Jinping and other senior officials paid their respects to Jiang during a ceremony at a military hospital in Beijing before his body was taken for cremation at the Babaoshan cemetery, where he was buried. buried many of the country’s top leaders. State broadcaster CCTV showed Xi and others bowing to Jiang, his signature heavy-rimmed glasses clearly visible through the glass coffin.
Former leader Hu Jintao – who used to be escorted out of the Communist Party high-level meeting in October in a dramatic incident that gained global attention — also captured at the event.
Al Jazeera’s Patrick Fok, reporting from Hong Kong, described the timing of Giang’s death as “remarkable”, not least because it happened shortly after that Communist Party Congress — where Xi was appointed general secretary of this organization for one term. unprecedented third term – but also because it came a few days later wave of protests against the government’s “no COVID” policy shook the whole country.
Fok said authorities were on high alert across the country, with a reported heavy police presence in Beijing and Shanghai.
Jiang’s death also left some Chinese nostalgic for a time when it was seen as more liberal and tolerant of dissidents.
“The Jiang Zemin era, although not the most prosperous, was a more tolerant era,” wrote one user on the Twitter-like social media platform Weibo after his death. .
“I have heard a lot of criticism about him, but the fact that he allows critical voices to exist shows how much he deserves to be praised,” another wrote.
