China holds memorial service for former leader Jiang Zemin
China held a memorial service Tuesday for former leader Jiang Zemin, who died last week at the age of 96, with President Xi Jinping praising him for curbing the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement and promoting the country’s reform and opening up.
Senior Communist Party members, as well as government and military officials, with white flowers pinned to their chests, offered silent prayers for three minutes at the start of the ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Jiang, who died of leukemia and multiple organ failure in Shanghai last Wednesday, is credited with guiding China’s rapid rise to major power status as the ruling Communist Party’s leader between 1989 and 2002.
In his eulogy, Xi said in reference to the Tiananmen Square protests that Jiang implemented the Communist Party’s “correct decision on taking a clear stand against” the political turmoil as the top party official in Shanghai, and “effectively maintained the stability” of the city where similar protests had occurred.
Xi also said as China faced economic sanctions from some Western countries following the Tiananmen Square protests, Jiang led efforts to “unswervingly take economic development as a central task” and adhered to the nation’s policy of reform and opening up.
He also commended Jiang for dedicating his whole life to the Chinese people and realizing national prosperity.
In memory of the former leader, the general public was instructed to offer silent prayers as well as watch a live broadcast of the ceremony, with sirens blaring in various cities.
Universal Studios in Beijing was closed and some overseas TV programs were not aired as the Funeral Committee, headed by Xi, called for the suspension of entertainment activities.
On Monday, Jiang’s body was cremated at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in the capital, after having been flown from Shanghai.
Following rare nationwide protests in late November against China’s strict “zero-COVID” policy, Chinese authorities have tightened security amid the possibility that mourners congregating for Jiang could stage anti-government demonstrations.
Jiang managed China’s 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization and the nation’s winning bid the same year for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, which were major milestones in his 13-year tenure at the apex of power.
During that time, China’s economy grew at an average rate of 9 percent annually, with military spending increasing by around 15 percent each year. Jiang also presided over Hong Kong’s return to China from Britain in 1997.