TAIPEI, Taiwan – The death of former Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang on Jan. 17 sparked powerful reactions in China and around the world. Gao Wenqian, former director of the “Zhou Enlai Biographical Study Group” at the “Party Literature Research Center” of the CCP’s general office, warned President and CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao not to walk down the “dead paths of Mao and Deng” regarding Zhao. Gao said if Hu and Wen ignore or suppress public opinion, China could become unstable, and they as leaders would be forever branded in a bad light by history.

In an interview with Duowei News [Chinese News Net], Gao said that Hu and Wen are standing at political crossroads concerning restoring Zhao’s reputation. People from all walks of life hope that the CCP Central Committee will redress its past mistakes and evaluate Zhao’s contributions fairly.

Gao also said that Hu and Wen should learn lessons from Mao and Deng’s mistakes. When Mao initiated the “Great Leap Forward,” he intended to have China catch up and surpass countries that were technologically advanced. However, the result was disastrous. To obfuscate his mistakes, Mao launched an attack on then-Politburo Member and Minister of Defense, Peng Dehuai, who had bravely spoken out about the famines and economic catastrophes the failed plan had caused. Later, Mao persecuted Liu Shaoqi, then-president of China. Mao made even larger mistakes attempting to cover up old ones, and they climaxed with the Cultural Revolution, which was a nationwide calamity.

Deng Xiaoping made similar errors. The impetus for the 1989 “June 4” student movement was Hu Yaobao’s death and the public’s demand for a just evaluation of him. Hu was ousted from the his post as CCP general secretary in 1987. However Deng did not allow an evaluation, and deleted important content from Hu’s eulogy. This angered Chinese citizens and the protests developed into a student movement. The government then massacred students at Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 where they appealed.

Gao’s book, Zhou Enlai’s Later Years, published in Hong Kong in 2003, has received wide acclaim. Gao, considered an expert historian on the CCP, quoted an ancient Chinese saying that “history is a mirror” as a warning to Hu and Wen.