Communist Patriarch And PRC's Ex-President Jiang Zemin Passes Away, People In China Express Nostalgia, Whilst Censors Work Overtime

Jiang Zemin, who was President of People's Republic of China from the year 1993 to 2003 has passed away. He died due to Leukemia, at the age of 96, in Shanghai. The news of former Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin's death has sparked a wave of "nostalgia" among the Chinese people. Netizens rushed to social media, calling Jiang Zemin an elder and posting his past images, enumerating his past achievements. Some observers believe that these moves are largely in contrast to the current situation.

When the news of Jiang Zemin's death came, parts of southern and southwestern China suddenly experienced large-scale snowfall and rainfall.
Economist Ma Guangyuan said on his own microblog, "Today there was rare snow in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it was to send off the old man."

In the post, he listed in detail, "China's entry into the WTO, the establishment of a market economy, and the success of Beijing's bid for the Olympics were all accomplished in the hands of the old man, he really made China part of the global community". Three photos of Jiang Zemin during his tenure were also attached below.

Many netizens showed a more sentimental way of commemorating Jiang Zemin than the economist. Searching with the phrase "elder" on Twitter produces a long string of tweets mourning Jiang Zemin and cherishing his time in power.

There were also netizens who posted a video on Twitter, of people spontaneously offering Jiang Zemin a bunch of flowers in front of his old house in Yangzhou, forming a half-street line.

The emotions of the people seem to be related to the protests in several cities these days against the lockdown and to mourn the victims of the Urumqi fire.

Some netizens jokingly said on social media that Jiang Zemin was more useful than Wu Yifan, and the news of his death was released at this time to divert people's anger. Many netizens also think that people's nostalgia for Jiang Zemin is a way to implicitly express dissatisfaction with the current situation in China.

A post-80s youth from Shanghai told reporters that he also misses Jiang Zemin, but this kind of nostalgia mainly comes from comparing, "Although the economy during the Jiang era was not as good as now, it was an era of national pride and optimism, while most people are pessimistic about the future now! It feels very different to get better day by day, and to get worse bit by bit."

Cheng Yizhong, who was the editor-in-chief of the Southern Metropolis Daily during the Jiang Zemin era, understands the emotions of the people. He believes that compared to the successive leaders of the Chinese Communist Party since 1989, Jiang Zemin is relatively good, "Jiang Zemin is relatively better in terms of cultural level, personal cultivation, and personal ability."

One of the most widely circulated videos about Jiang Zemin online is from a press conference in 2000, when he angrily scolded the female journalist from Hong Kong Cable TV, Zhang Baohua, for asking him if Tung Chee-hwa was pre-selected to be re-elected as the Chief Executive of Hong Kong? At that time, Jiang Zemin said to the many reporters in English, "You are too young and too naive!"

Cheng Yizhong still remembers his own judgment when he saw this scene: "When he said this, he at least put himself on an equal footing, communicating with reporters and feeling quite lovely; but on the other hand, there is something repulsive which is the nature of officials from the Chinese Communist Party, they all inherently despise the news media."

In many netizens' comments, Jiang Zemin's multifaceted nature is also highlighted.

The netizen named "Qin Xian" in his tweet said, "At that time, you could mimic Little Dragon, sing Starlight, O Great Nation and Boundless Sky! At that time, you didn't have to be afraid of the police or traffic police, or crazy neighborhood committees, door guards, or volunteers. At that time, as long as you wanted to make money, there was a chance. As long as you paid money, the officials would get things done." He followed it up with the phrase, "There is no corruption without an official, let's still honor Jiang Zemin!"

Li Weidong, who worked at the Chinese Reform Magazine during Jiang Zemin's reign, said that now people mainly compare China after the lockdown of three years to the Jiang Zemin era, overlooking the problems in that period, "the grievances between Jiang Zemin and Falun Gong, the serious corruption of the Jiang era, the Flood Control Project of the Nine Dragons, and his bad international reputation. Young people may not know this.”

Cheng Yizhong also believes that the evaluation of a country's leader should start at a larger level; for China's current bad situation, Jiang Zemin is also responsible, "Xi Jinping has turned China into a prison, 9.6 million square kilometers of prison, an absolutely unthinkable, extremely terrifying dictatorship. I think Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao are all responsible."

He emphasized that Jiang Zemin was actually one of the links in the continuation of the CCP's authoritarian system. It is noteworthy that the stability maintenance system covering all parts of China began in the era of Jiang Zemin. The Central Leadership Group on Maintaining Stability was established in 1998, and in May 2000 the Office of the Central Leadership Group on Maintaining Stability was set up in the Ministry of Public Security.

But netizens seemed intent on comparing the present with the past. On Twitter, some compared Jiang Zemin's death at this point to Hu Yaobang's death in 1989, implying that his death could lead to large-scale public opposition.

Both the Chinese government and netizens seem to have acutely realized this. Some netizens asked on Twitter whether it was allowed to take to the streets to mourn the elder. Meanwhile, there are signs that the Chinese social media has started to clamp down on speech about Jiang Zemin.

On Sina Weibo that only blue-verified enterprises or organizations and departments could speak about Jiang Zemin's death, and the comment section of relevant posts were either closed or had the Featured function turned on. Ordinary users were unable to post any relevant posts.

Li Weidong, who now holds the position of Editor-in-Chief of China Strategic Analysis magazine in the US, believes that Jiang Zemin's death is unlikely to trigger a social movement like the one in 1989. "In 1989 there were significant political grievances - Deng Xiaoping's old regime kept changing the General Secretary of the CCP until it died - and these grievances were shared by intellectuals and ordinary people alike." He stressed that there are not many political grievances in China today, "the current grumblings are only due to the censorship and the reduced economic freedom".

Li Weidong believes that the CCP leadership does not face a political crisis like the one in 1989, as there is no widespread political confrontation with the people, and in recent years Xi Jinping has vigorously proclaimed his achievements in anti-corruption, poverty alleviation, and economics, so the possibility of current dissatisfaction in Chinese society developing into a color revolution is unlikely.