Finally to be Laid to Rest

Zhao Ziyang in his courtyard home in Beijing

Yesterday was Ching Ming and the family of late Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang received some good news. Finally a decade after his death, the ashes of the liberal senior official will now be allowed to be buried.

"They [the authorities] have agreed to have them buried together," Zhao's son-in-law Wang Zhihua said, referring to the late leader and his wife Liang Boqi who died in late 2013.

Zhao was virtually under house arrest after he was expelled from the Party for opposing the military crackdown on the students in June 1989 in Tiananmen Square.

Zhao in Tiananmen Square telling students to leave

He apparently spent his days chipping golf balls in the courtyard of his home and after he died in 2005, it was later discovered that he made secret recordings of his life, and in particular the last year he was Party Secretary, that led to the publication of the book, Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang.

Since then his ashes have been kept in the courtyard of his home in Beijing because there was no previous agreement with the government on where his remains would be buried.

When he died, the Party, which determines burial arrangements for its members, offered to inter his ashes at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetary, but his family wanted him to be buried privately because they worried about future access to his ashes.

The authorities were anxious around the time of Zhao's funeral, concerned it would spark large-scale mourning. They were so paranoid, that on the day of his funeral, police and security agents were posted on every corner along Chang'an Avenue and many of his supporters were barred from the ceremony.

Zhao's account of his life through recordings

A few years ago people were allowed to visit his home to pay their respects at Ching Ming, and since then more have come, and even media covered the event. When Zhao's wife died over a year ago, the issue of his burial came up again.

Wang said yesterday that officials from the Party and the Beijing government had met with the family in recent months to discuss finding a burial site for Zhao and Liang. While nothing has been settled yet, the family said it was a step forward.

"Their attitude was sincere and we can talk about things," said Zhao's youngest son, Zhao Wujun. "We just want the old people to be buried peacefully."

It's interesting the authorities are still concerned about Zhao's burial being a flashpoint to remind people of the Tiananmen Square massacre 26 years ago this June. He was a popular leader at the time, whose opposition to the crackdown made him a symbol of conscience.

Political commentator Zhang Lifan believes that while the authorities are allowing Zhao's ashes to be buried, it did not mean they would rehabilitate his reputation, and officials would still be worried about his grave becoming a pilgrimage site.

It very well could become one, considering more than 100 people came to his Beijing home this year. Not only does this indicate people's unwavering loyalty towards him, but also they have not forgotten what happened almost 26 years ago.

And when more and more people remember, Beijing will not be able to hide the truth much longer. It may be smug in thinking a whole generation of young people do not know that thousands of people in and around Tiananmen Square were killed, but through remembering Zhao they will -- eventually.

The Contradictions Continue

Xi Jinping rallies the "troops" to fight the war against rumour mongering

Chinese President Xi Jinping is carrying on where Hu Jintao left off in further tightening the media.

Xi has called for a war against China's unruly internet, and for the Communist Party's propaganda department to build "a strong army" to "seize the ground of new media".

The central government is currently accelerating its campaign to stamp out internet "rumours" and rein in influential celebrities, known as "big Vs" for "verified".

Xi made the speech on August 19 at a national meeting of propaganda chiefs, but was only made public recently.

"The wording of his speech relayed in internal briefings is far stronger," said a source. "The most impressive [point] is that Xi said the Communist Party should be combative instead of being passive, and it should wage a war to win over public opinion. Xi also ordered the propaganda apparatus to seize the ground of new media," he said.

After his speech, there were movements on the ground.

The following day Beijing police detained several people related to Beijing Erma Interactive Marketing and Planning, including internet celebrity Qin Huohuo on suspicion of rumour-mongering.

Then on August 23, well-known Chinese-American businessman Charles Xu Biqun, better known as Xue Manzi by his 12 million Sina Weibo followers was detained on what sounds like trumped-up charges of soliciting prostitutes to which he confessed.

Meanwhile state media has constantly reminded celebrities and other influential online figures known as "big Vs" not to spread rumours.

In his August 19 speech, Xi also ordered officials to "unite intellectuals", which was interpreted to mean getting as many intellectuals as possible to back the Party's agenda.

"It is a continuation of the style during the Maoist era to set intellectuals apart from the public," said one senior state television journalist.

Another media source said Xi said there should be a ban on the media talking about "universal values of the West", because there are "no such things as universal values".

Wait a second. We know Xi is hinting things such as democracy and human rights, but if he is advocating "the Chinese dream" which is modelled after "the American dream", aren't dreams universal?

Xi is also invoking paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, by calling for the revival of "ideological purification" in the early 1980s by upholding cardinal principles. They are: upholding the people's democratic dictatorship (sounds like an oxymoron), the socialist path (which the Party is not on anymore), the party leadership (a given), and Marxism-Leninism and "Mao Zedong thought" (continuing where Bo Xilai was cut off).

Does Xi not have any other brilliant ideas of his own? Or is this his way of trying to further consolidate his power by harking back to the past to justify his position?

This obsession for media control either reveals Xi's determination to have a greater grip over the Party or his paranoia of not having everyone on side.

Nevertheless, people in China must be seeing through this exercise and rolling their eyes again at yet another exercise in further tightening the leash on media.

We only hope the squeeze hasn't suffocated those who are still determined to publish the truth.