Internet users have flocked to pay tribute to Zhao Ziyang, the Communist Party chief purged in the wake of the June 4 crackdown 22 years ago, at online memorials in the lead-up to next Thursday's Ching Ming tomb-sweeping festival.
Hundreds of comments were posted yesterday at an online memorial hall on Jj3344.com, compared with just seven last year. It was much the same story on other memorial websites including Lifeall.com, fenfenyu.com and zg05.com.
Apparent official tolerance of a surge in memorial comments has lent weight to speculation that curbs on public discussion of some sensitive figures and events might have been lifted, web users and scholars said, with some linking the development to reports of internal power struggles and a push for political reform. Other observers said it was routine ahead of the festival.
Most comments mourned the death of Zhao, with some calling for political reform and a re-evaluation of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.
'The truth will come out one day because history is actually written by the people,' one internet user wrote.
Another said: 'I will tell the next generation you are a true hero and a reformer.'