BREAKBREAK,
State media said Jiang died of leukemia and multiple organ failure in the city of Shanghai.
Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin has died at the age of 96, Chinese state media reported.
Jiang died at 12:13 pm (04:13 GMT) of leukemia and multiple organ failure in the city of Shanghai, the official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday, publishing a letter to the people. China’s ruling Communist Party, parliament, Cabinet and Government. The army announced the death.
“Comrade Jiang Zemin’s death is an incalculable loss to our Party and army as well as our peoples of all nations,” the letter said, saying the announcement was made with “the deeply saddened”.
It describes “our beloved comrade Jiang Zemin” as an outstanding leader of high prestige, a great Marxist, a statesman, military strategist and diplomat, at the same time as a long-tested communist fighter.
Jiang was brought out of silence to lead China’s ruling Communist Party after the bloody Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1989, but brought the country out. The ensuing diplomatic isolation, mending the fence with the United States, and witnessing an unprecedented economic boom.
Jiang has seen China through historic changes including the resurgence of market-oriented reforms, Hong Kong’s return from British rule in 1997 and Beijing’s accession. World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.
Even as China opened up to the outside, Jiang’s government quelled dissent at home. It jailed human rights, labor and democracy activists, and banned the spiritual movement Falun Gong, which it saw as a threat to the Communist Party’s monopoly on power.
Jiang gave up his last official post in 2004 but remained a behind-the-scenes force in the controversy that led to the rise of incumbent President Xi Jinping, who came to power in 2012. Xi has stuck with Jiang’s combination of economic liberalization and strict political control.
Originally seen as a transitional leader, Jiang was drafted into retirement with a mandate from then-supreme leader Deng Xiaoping to bring the party and the nation together.
But he has proven transformative. During his 13 years as general secretary of the Communist Party, the highest position in China, he guided China’s rise as a global economic power by welcoming capitalists to the Communist Party and attracting capitalists. foreign investment after China’s accession to the WTO.
He presided over the nation’s rise as a global producer, the return of Hong Kong and Macao from the UK and Portugal, and the achievement of a long-cherished dream: winning the right to host the World Cup. Olympic Games after being rejected earlier.
More to follow…
