Former People's Daily chief editor Hu Jiwei sought Tiananmen vindication

Hu Jiwei, a former People's Daily chief editor and one of the most vocal advocates for political reform, made vindication of the Tiananmen protest movement his dying wish. He died on Sunday, one day after his 96th birthday.

A close family member who declined to be named said the liberal party elder died of heart failure in a Beijing hospital. He had been suffering from heart problems for years and was readmitted to the hospital earlier this month, having spent most of the summer there.

He was already in intensive care and in a frail state when closest friends Li Rui and Du Daozheng visited him four days before he died. Speaking sparingly, Hu nonetheless told them the truth about the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement must be told, his close relative said.

Li, a former secretary to Mao Zedong , and Du, a former propaganda chief, are also reform-minded party elders.

"He didn't have much energy to speak," his relative said. "But he put up his hand and said to them: 'Seek vindication for June 4'. That was the most fervent wish in his heart."

Born in Sichuan in 1916, Hu joined the underground Communist Party at 21 while at university - a dangerous move during Kuomintang rule. In 1939, he went to the revolutionary base, Yanan , where, for the next decade, he edited regional pro-communist newspapers.