Jiang Zemin, who has died aged 96, was put in charge of the Chinese Communist party as its general secretary in May 1989 amid the turmoil of Tiananmen Square, in a move that destroyed any chance of a peaceful outcome to the protests. By siding with the conservative forces who bloodily suppressed the students’ call for democracy and reform, Jiang secured his succession to the presidency four years later.
By the time he retired in 2002, China had been transformed. Shopping centres rose along the Avenue of Everlasting Peace, where tanks and armoured cars had killed protesters. Young families ate in McDonald’s and KFC instead of buying pancakes from street vendors, and a new metro ran under the square, carrying the tens of thousands who once had cycled to work. And in the year before Jiang stepped down, China “entered the world” – the phrase used by the Chinese media for joining the World Trade Organization. In spite of some shaky episodes, Jiang also succeeded in building a stable relationship with the US.
