EDITOR’S NOTE: The death of former General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, discredited by the Chinese Communist Party for his pro-democracy stance regarding the events of June 1989, has brought China to a critical point.

Zhao’s principled opposition to the brutal, deadly crackdown against Tiananmen Square protesters on June 4 cost him his political career. He was purged from the government and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

Since his death Jan. 17, the CCP’s leaders worked hard to keep hidden the news of Zhao’s death. It seems certain that they fear a groundswell of pro-democracy thought propelled by the millions who revered Zhao for his principles and character.

Epoch Times writer Chen Yangchao offers insight and opinion on the historical moment that has arrived for China.

1. Final judgment can be passed on the measure of Zhao Ziyang and his career only when the lid is laid on his coffin; it is directly linked to a judgment on the nature of the June 4th Massacre and China’s future.

Politics in China has arrived at a decisive moment!

An intense battle at this moment is focused on how Zhao Ziyang will be remembered after his death. At stake is whether China is heading toward democracy or will continuing to spiral down under despotic dictatorship, and end up with the nation being split and carved up.

The intense battle revolves around whether it was correct that Zhao insisted in solving the problem in 1989 through democratic and legal means, and whether it was correct that he opposed the use of force, with tanks roaming the streets of Beijing and Tiananmen Square firing at and killing students in peaceful protest.

2. Zhao’s actions in 1989 have were of great meritorious service

Any person with human nature and conscience can see the evil in having tank-borne troops shooting at patriotic students in peaceful protest.

Zhao opposed this, and insisted in solving the problem through diplomacy. He opposed the violent method, and rejected the legitimacy of actions that will be remembered with great sadness in history. His actions were a great service to China. What wrong did he commit?

Zhao followed his conscience and loyalty, tried his best to admonish, and to resist the atrocity from the fatuous leader, Deng Xiaoping. His righteous actions only benefited the CCP, China and the people. They have withstood the test of history.

3. The butcher Deng Xiaoping will always be remembered as the chief criminal

The despotic dictator Deng stooped so low as to order the deadly crackdown for the base reason of trying to save face and to cover up his own children’s corruption and abuse of power in their illegal profiteering through the Kanghua Trading Co. The students were in peaceful protest and shouting slogans of “Combat official profiteering.” This is the real criminal act!

Butcher Deng Xiaoping is the chief criminal!

4. Deng takes cautious measures with guilty conscience

Deng knew that his actions in suppressing the protesting students were undeniably criminal. To avoid being called to account, he violated the “Four Basic Principles” (which he had said must be adhered to), and delivered the so-called “Deng Xiaoping’s comment on his tour to South China.” He bribed the ruling class with “hush money” by opening the door for a bureaucratic privileged economy; ushering in foreign capital and making capital the vassal of the bureaucratic privileged class’s despotic politics; and consolidating the reactionary rule of the bureaucratic privileged class.

On the other hand, Deng made secret agreements to restrain his successors from ever reversing the verdict of the June 4th incident. He used the feudalistic tactic of naming an heir to power once-removed in Hu Jintao, who himself had been on the front line to order suppression of peacefully protesting Tibetans before June 4, 1989, making him the fourth generation dictator to protect his reputation after death and the power and wealth of his descendants.

5. Zhao’s death after more than 15 years of house arrest spells trouble for the CCP

Now, after being under house arrest for 15-1/2 years, Zhao has died, and it spells trouble for the CCP.

Since Zhao was once the top person in the CCP, especially given his influence among the people, which was established through his great contribution to reform and open policy, the diehards with vested interests headed by Hu Jintao cannot avoid the inevitable process of finalizing the assessment of Zhao Ziyang.

Zhao insisted on solving problems through democratic and legal means, and he objected to using troops and tanks to suppress protesting students. Whether these principles of Zhao’s are correct is another unavoidable issue to face in finalizing an assessment of his life.

6. Hu Jintao’s dual tactic toward the final judgment on Zhao Ziyang

Those in power know that the June 4 massacre is connected to their vested interests, especially their privileges and positions. They absolutely will not pass an objective, fair judgment on Zhao’s most pivotal actions.

Considering the social turbulence and the great impact on political shifts caused by Zhou Enlai and Hu Yaobang’s death, the CCP had already drawn up several emergency strategies.

From taking the pulse of the public through repeatedly releasing rumors of Zhao’s death, to the several days of examination after Zhao’s actual death, in order to avoid triggering unrest, on one hand, the CCP adopted a soft conciliation policy in order to finish dealing with the aftermath of Zhao’s death as soon as possible. On the other hand, in view of the strong reactions from the international society and Internet users both inside and outside China, the CCP decided to take some hard measures to suppress, arrest and even beat people who publicly appeal for the restoration of Zhao’s reputation and demand a clear and fair evaluation of Zhao and the June 4 massacre, especially those calling for a parade demonstration. In fact, on Jan. 21, the CCP arrested Zhao Xin among others who applied for a parade permit in Beijing.

7. The current CCP absolutely will not pass an objective and fair judgment on Zhao

The baseline for the CCP’s final judgment on Zhao is to continue the “seven anti” policies (anti-conscience, anti-people, anti-democracy, anti-rule by law, anti-humanism, anti-human rights and anti-human) it has always been pursuing, which had been practiced and made more widely known by Deng Xiaoping. The CCP insists on refusing to redress the June 4 incident, distorting the facts, and its criminal conclusion of Zhao’s making so-called “serious mistakes.”

Therefore, we definitely cannot place hopes in the current CCP leadership to respect the facts and pass an objective and fair judgment on Zhao.

8. Facing such an important issue, we must have the courage to fight, and be good at it

Because of the importance of the final judgment of Zhao Ziyang, whether a correct evaluation of his merit and demerits in the June 4 incident can be made is a key premise for redressing the June 4 incident. It is also an important premise for bringing to trial the illegality of Deng Xiaoping’s use of military force to suppress students, whether the CCP has the conscience to carry out a morality trial, and whether a democratic course can get under way in China. So all fellow Chinese who love China, all the Chinese people and all forces against despotic systems, must unite together to break through this criminal baseline.

The essence of an effective way to achieve this is that all forces against the CCP’s autocratic and despotic rule must seek common ground and set aside differences, unite together, to fully use modern communication and Internet techniques, and take advantage of the superiority of the democratic movement ideology. Take a firm grasp on the leading role in fostering a fair judgment on Zhao Ziyang that can stand up to historical examination, paving the way for redressing the June 4 incident, and impelling democratization in China effectively. We must immediately establish a moral authority (The Committee for Chinese People to Hold Public Memorial Service for the “Conscience Premier” Zhao Ziyang).
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Written by Chen Yangchao after reading “Ren Bumei: the large-scale search and seizure began on the night of 21st in China” and the Epoch Times reporter Xin Fei’s interview report on Zhao Xin.
For more articles, please refer to www.tianyao.org, www.boxun.com, and www.ncn.org.