Former Beijing party secretary Chen Xitong, widely believed to be a political enemy of liberal leaders Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang and to have actively plotted the latter's downfall, has heaped praise on both men and described himself as a fellow reformist.
In a new book, Conversations with Chen Xitong, he is more critical of former president Jiang Zemin, former premier and National People's Congress chairman Li Peng and former president and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference chairman Li Xiannian. And he is particularly bitter towards former superior Li Ximing , Beijing's party secretary in 1989 when Chen was the capital's mayor.
In eight interviews in the book between January 2011 and April 2012 with scholar Yao Jianfu, a retired official and researcher, Chen, 81, provides some rare glimpses of top leaders in the 1980s and 1990s. The book was released by New Century Press publisher Bao Pu in Hong Kong this week.
For many years Chen was deemed a hardliner who opposed reforms. But he said he was actually an advocate of economic liberalisation.
Chen was particularly impressed by Hu, the former party general secretary known for his liberal thinking and daring reforms. 'Under the leadership of Hu Yaobang, we had done many good things,' Chen said. 'He was a thorough Marxist and had many admirable qualities.'
Chen also said the party had not fairly assessed Zhao, who was removed as party general secretary and put under house arrest for refusing to back the use of military force against the pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
'I always see Zhao as a reformist. He had the most accurate understanding of the socialist market economy - even today not many people understand it as well as he did,' Chen said. 'Zhao was willing to listen to other people's views. He made contributions to China's reform.'