Bao Tong

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Bao Tong (2008)

Bao Tong (Chinese: 鮑彤, * 1932 in Haining , Zhejiang , People's Republic of China ) is the former director of the Office for Political Reform of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and of Political Secretary Zhao Ziyang , who was Chinese Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and from 1987 until 1989 was General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party . Bao was also director of the drafting committee for the 13th Chinese Communist Party Congress and was known for his support for market reforms and opening up under Deng Xiaoping . Before that he was a member of the committee and then deputy director of the Chinese State Commission for Economic Reform.

Bao Tong is a former member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the highest Chinese official , who has been convicted for the events of the 1989th

biography

Bao Tong was born in Haining, Zhejiang Province, but grew up in Shanghai . He currently lives in Beijing with his wife Jiang Zongcao, daughter Bao Jian and granddaughter Bao Yangyang . He has a son, Bao Pu, who lives abroad.

Bao was the director of the Political Reform Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Political Secretary Zhao Ziyang, who was Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1987 to 1989. Bao was director of the drafting committee for the 13th Chinese Communist Party Congress. Before that he was a member of the committee and then deputy director of the Chinese State Commission for Economic Reform.

In the late 1980s, Bao Tong was a close associate and assistant to the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Zhao Ziyang, and the author of his speeches and editorials, which showed understanding for the student protests after the death of popular popular General Secretary Hu Yaobang and supported a peaceful end to the protests. After a first attempt to evacuate Tian'anmen Square with unarmed soldiers on May 20, 1989, was thwarted by the general resistance of the population, many party officials suspected that Bao Tong had given the organizers of the protests the information about the planned evacuation had passed on. After Deng Xiaoping's decision to impose martial law and violently end the protests , Bao Tong prepared Zhao Ziyang's resignation. Zhao was put under house arrest a short time later. Bao was arrested on May 28, 1989. Zhao was placed under house arrest for the rest of his life , while Bao was officially charged with "exposing state secrets and counter-revolutionary propaganda." Bao was the top government official charged with the 1989 movement. He was publicly charged in 1992 in a brief show trial and sentenced to seven years in prison, and his political rights were revoked for two years. Bao was serving the full term in isolation in Qincheng Prison. Deng personally decided to sentence Bao to seven years in prison.

On May 27, 1996, when he was due to be released after completing his sentence, he was instead detained at a government compound in Xishan, outside of Beijing, for an additional year until his family agreed to move out of their home in the city and into move one assigned to them by the authorities. The new apartment had a gate that was guarded around the clock and surveillance cameras. Visitors were scrutinized, the phone tapped or turned off completely. Bao Tong was accompanied by some men as soon as he stepped out of his home. Although he had to move to a different apartment in Beijing, the surveillance system and restrictions on his calls, visitors and movement have followed him to his new home.

Bao Tong requested the restoration of civil and political rights for Zhao Ziyang from 1998 until Zhao's death. Bao was instrumental in getting Zhao Ziyang's memoirs published in May 2009. He came into possession of audio recordings that Zhao secretly made while he was under house arrest, and that were discovered after his death in 2005. Bao's son Bao Pu and daughter-in-law Renee Chiang published the book Journey of Reform (改革 歷程) in Hong Kong . They translated and edited (with Adi Ignatius) an English version of this book, titled Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang (Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang). Bao wrote an introduction to the Chinese version. Bao is a regular contributor to Radio Free Asia and his son Bao Pu publishes books in Hong Kong that are banned in China.

Bao went on to write articles openly criticizing the government and its policies. He supported the democratic development in Hong Kong and expressed the need for political reform in China. He was one of the signatories of the Charter 08 Manifesto and requested the release of Liu Xiaobo , a charter organizer who was arrested in December 2008.

Bao's house phone continues to be tapped and regularly switched off, especially when someone from abroad tries to speak to him. Bao is followed everywhere and on occasion he is prevented from going to "sensitive" events or places. For example, to Zhao Ziyang's home while he was still alive, or his funeral in 2005. Bao has been allowed to leave Beijing on three occasions since he was arrested in 1989. The last time in 2009 when he was invited to a celebration from May 22nd to June 7th. He was accompanied by public security officers who are said to have skilfully avoided the 20th anniversary of the Tian'anmen massacre. Bao's son Bao Pu, who lives in Hong Kong, is only allowed to visit him with special permission. Under normal circumstances, he cannot obtain a visa.

Media reports

On January 19, 2005, the Washington Post reported that Bao Tong and his wife were attacked and injured by more than 20 plain clothes security agents trying to leave their home to the family of Zhao Ziyang , who died on January 17 to pay their last respects. Bao's wife was pushed to the floor by a police officer, injuring her spine and making her hospital for three months. Although Bao was also injured, the authorities would not allow him access to a doctor until he removed a white flower on his vest. Bao refused. (Note: a white flower is a traditional symbol of mourning in China).

On January 1, 2007, Reuters examined a new government regulation to make it easier for foreign reporters to do their jobs in China. A reporter visited Bao Tong's home to interview about the Beijing Olympics . Since then, several foreign reporters have done the same. The guards sometimes tried to intimidate or deny them entry, but apparently they allow most foreign reporters entry if arrangements are made beforehand. Local Chinese reporters are not included in this provision. Sky News reporter Peter Sharp describes the visit to Bao Tong on his blog.

Bao Tong spoke in an interview with the Handelsblatt about his experience of his time with the Chinese Communist Party. He said he wanted a one-party system , but that was not possible because no single party could protect human rights . Bao said that a party cannot be a political party, government and administration at the same time, and therefore real civil and human rights cannot be obtained. Bao also provided information about his house arrest that although he could go out, he was always under guard. He also said that China's current politics, economy , morality and society as a whole were deeply wounded because of the events of June 4th.

Bao Tong spoke to the Chinese Epoch Times (大纪元) about the criminal charges filed by Chinese citizens against Jiang Zemin , the former party leader of the communist regime . Jiang was charged with violating human rights during his reign, particularly because of the persecution of Falun Gong that he initiated . Most of the criminal charges are said to have been filed by Falun Gong practitioners. Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese cultivation practice that has been persecuted since July 1999, in violation of China's Constitution . Bao said China's citizens are allowed to scrutinize current and former executives to see that this is how a normal society works. Bao said that the persecution of Falun Gong is a crime against humanity. He hoped that Falun Gong practitioners will have spiritual peace to continue their practice. Bao said that Jiang had broken the law and people were outraged because of it. Bao himself thinks this action is correct and thinks that the state should support these criminal charges.

Quotes

  • About the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party: “We must correct all of Deng Xiaoping's mistakes, this is the only way to maintain Deng Xiaoping's vision. That is the real meaning of continuing Deng Xiaoping's work. Only if they recognize his mistakes and correct his mistakes can they stand taller than Deng Xiaoping, otherwise they have no right to call themselves the successors of Deng Xiaoping. They can only call themselves the successors of Deng Xiaoping's mistakes ”.
  • Mourning Zhao Ziyang: “His life was part of a heroic and powerful task, namely pioneering work to protect human rights and democracy for the Chinese people ... To mourn Zhao is to defend human rights. To mourn Zhao is to strive for democracy and the rule of law ”.
  • About the 2008 Chinese Milk Scandal : “The spoiled milk scandal shows us that the more dark secrets that are revealed, the better. You cannot cure the disease or save the Chinese people until you get to the root of the problem. If the Chinese government tries to downplay this incident, there will be no social stability in China, let alone harmony ... It will mean that this government has lost the most basic level of trust ”
  • About the Persecution of a Faith Group : “Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong is a crime against humanity. With his position as leader, Jiang started the suppression of a belief group, a practice [meditation] designed for fitness and well-being. Before the persecution in 1999, Zhu Rongji told the People's Daily that Falun Gong was legal and that the Chinese Communist Party would not ban it. I remember that about a month later, the General Secretary of the Communist Party [Jiang] undermined the Prime Minister's words as if tearing up a piece of paper. Zhu's words reflected the law. What Jiang did from a legal point of view is banditry. He illegally imposed its will on the state, imposed it on the government and the people, a really terrible thing. "
  • About the crackdown on the student protests in 1989: (The following quotes are from an interview by ARD with Bao Tong, 2014) “Mao had died 13 years earlier. This gave China the chance to develop differently. And in the 13 years since Mao's death, China had taken a different path. The students wanted the shadow of Mao to be left completely behind so that China could become a democracy and corruption could end. So the Chinese would have a better life and more freedom. Officially it was said that a riot had to be prevented. The army should restore law and order. But there was no riot. The only problem was that Deng didn't agree with the students. At first I thought Deng Xiaoping was just trying to intimidate the students and civilians with the army. I never would have believed that he - a Communist Party member who called himself a revolutionary - would actually order the shooting. Soldiers of their own army shooting at students! That's incredible."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Bao Tong, ex-party leader: "I am very concerned about China" , Handelsblatt, accessed on August 21, 2017
  2. ↑ a b c d Rebecca McKinnon, Former Community Party official: Last decade 'wasted' , CNN, June 2, 1999, accessed August 21, 2017
  3. ↑ a b c d e Bao Tong, China in Focus # 1 ( Memento from May 23, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), asiaamerica.org, January 20, 2005, accessed on August 21, 2017
  4. ↑ Ezra F. Vogel: Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China . Harvard University Pess, 2011, ISBN 978-0-674-05544-5 , pp. 620 .
  5. ↑ a b c d Andreas Lorenz, The Quiet Afterlife of a Chinese Dissident , Spiegel Online, September 3, 2008, accessed on August 21, 2017
  6. ↑ Ezra F. Vogel: Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China . Harvard University Pess, 2011, ISBN 978-0-674-05544-5 , pp. 618 .
  7. ↑ Prominent Chinese Dissidents Still Face Surveillance, House Arrest , Radio Free Asia, August 18, 2016, accessed September 7, 2017
  8. ↑ Ezra F. Vogel: Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China . Harvard University Pess, 2011, ISBN 978-0-674-05544-5 , pp. 632 .
  9. ↑ a b c Peter Sharp, In A Tiananmen Rebel's Glass Prison , Sky News Frontline Blog, January 17, 2008, accessed August 21, 2017
  10. ↑ Li Zhen, Interview with Bao Tong: Abandon the One-Party System in China , Epoch Times, May 17, 2009, accessed August 21, 2017
  11. ↑ Andrew Higgins, Chinese ruling party frets over a new threat: A book by an aged communist , The Washington Post, March 8, 2012, accessed August 21, 2017
  12. ↑ a b Didi Kirsten Tatlow, Bao Tong, Recalling Tiananmen, Calls on Hong Kong Protesters to 'Take a Break' , The New York Times, October 5, 2014, accessed September 6, 2017
  13. ↑ Stuart Leavenworth, Torn apart by Tiananmen, father, son still fight for free speech in China , McClatchy DC Bureau, February 2, 2015, accessed September 7, 2017
  14. ^ Writers' columns - Bao Tong ( Memento of December 28, 2003 in the Internet Archive ), Chinaaffairs.org, (Chinese), accessed on August 21, 2017
  15. ↑ Austin Ramzy, Chinese Dissident Bao Tong Speaks Out , Time, January 27, 2009, accessed September 7, 2017
  16. ↑ Jun Mai, Stuart Lau, Beijing policies pushed young Hongkongers towards localism , Tiananmen sympathiser Bao Tong says, South China Morning Post, June 2, 2017, accessed September 6, 2017
  17. ↑ a b c d e Chang Chun, An Old Chinese Political Reformer Weighs in on Lawsuits Against Former Leader , The Epoch Times, June 12, 2015, accessed September 6, 2017
  18. ^ Uproar Over China Milk Scandal , Radio Free Asia, September 23, 2008, accessed August 21, 2017
  19. ↑ a b c Christine Adelhardt, “The People's Republic of China died in 1989” , ARD interview with Bao Tong, June 4, 2014, accessed on September 7, 2017
Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Bao is the family name here, Tong is the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Bao, Tong
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese member of the Communist Party in the People's Republic of China
DATE OF BIRTH 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Haining