Glimpse of sunshine for Hu Yaobang
The symposium that posthumously commemorated the 90th birthday of Hu Yaobang lasted barely an hour. But after nearly 20 years in which open discussion of the man who once presided over China was taboo, the brief function held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday was nothing short of a breakthrough.
As organisation department chief of the Chinese Communist Party in the late 1970s, Hu was instrumental in rehabilitating 3 million people who were persecuted in the political campaigns that plagued the country for more than 20 years. In 1980 he was picked by Deng Xiaoping to become party chairman, subsequently renamed general secretary, and played a critical role in promoting liberal thoughts in a party that had been ravaged by political dogma.
But Hu was to lose in the palace politics that still afflicted the senior echelons of the party hierarchy. A symbol of open or 'sunshine' politics, he was unceremoniously forced to step down in 1987 for failing to check the spread of 'bourgeoise liberalisation'. It was a charge with which the people could not disagree more, as evidenced by the massive outpouring of grief at his death in April 1989. The public mourning at Tiananmen Square was to turn into a prolonged demonstration led by university students against corruption and misgovernment. Tragically, it was bloodily suppressed by military force in what has since been known as the June 4 crackdown. Since then, Hu's name has rarely appeared in official circles.
In Chinese tradition, it is usual to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of a deceased great man, not the 90th. Incumbent party secretary Hu Jintao is said to back this unorthodox commemoration against strong internal opposition. But what he is trying to achieve is not immediately clear. The two Hus are not related, but it was the elder Hu who recognised the younger Hu's talent and paved the way for his rise from a middle-ranking cadre to China's supreme leader.
But paying a personal tribute to his mentor cannot be the sole reason behind President Hu's decision to sanction the commemoration. It was also odd that last-minute changes were made to scale down the remembrance activities. The symposium was to be held on Sunday, but was brought forward two days - reportedly to give Mr Hu an excuse not to attend, as he is at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum meeting in Seoul.
Perhaps the party leadership remains divided over what message it should be sending to the people. Any sign of a full-scale rehabilitation of the former general secretary could unnerve those who had benefited politically from his purge. It could also fuel expectations that the party's verdict on June 4 as a counter-revolutionary incident might be reversed, when it is clearly not ready to do so. One can only speculate that, as a means of uniting the party, the leadership has decided to honour Hu as a leader who enjoyed immense popular support for being upright and incorruptible, but in a low-key manner. Accordingly, the scale of commemoration activities in Hu's hometown and elsewhere is also being reduced.
However, it was significant that senior leaders including Premier Wen Jiabao , Vice-President Zeng Qinghong and Politburo Standing Committee member Wu Guanzheng , who is in charge of the party's anti-corruption efforts, attended the symposium. Mr Zeng's speech recognised the impeccable character of Hu, but made no reference to why he was forced to step down as party chief. That might be the most the leadership feels confident to say at this stage.
For those who feel that Hu Yaobang should be cleared of the blot that stained his exemplary service, the timid move was far from adequate. As the initial step towards recognising the man's contributions and reversing the party's verdict on the string of events associated with his downfall and death, time will likely confirm that yesterday's commemoration was historic.
