Chinese President Xi Jinping said former President Jiang Zemin supported and carried out the Chinese Communist Party's decision on the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests.
In a speech at the "100th birth anniversary ceremony for former President Jiang Zemin" at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the 17th (local time), Xi did not mention the Tiananmen protests directly, referring to them instead as the "grave political turmoil that occurred in China in the spring and summer of 1989."
Xi praised Jiang's achievements during his tenure, saying, "From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, during a major period of testing, former President Jiang unwaveringly kept economic development at the center." Jiang took office as general secretary of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee in June 1989, when the Tiananmen incident occurred.
Jiang took power as general secretary of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee in June 1989, during the Tiananmen protests. He is credited with laying the groundwork for economic growth by expanding market-economy reforms and opening to the outside world in the 1990s, and by pushing for China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Xi also assessed the Chinese Communist Party's third-generation central leadership centered on Jiang, saying it "steadfastly upheld the party's fundamental line" and "upheld and developed socialism with Chinese characteristics."
He also mentioned Jiang's policies on the return of Hong Kong and Macao and on Taiwan. Xi said Jiang led the handover of Hong Kong and Macao and pushed China and Taiwan to agree to the "1992 Consensus," which reflects the "one China" principle. He added that Jiang carried out the struggle against Taiwan independence and achieved results in diplomacy and international strategy.
Xi also emphasized that Jiang voluntarily resigned as chairman of the Central Military Commission in 2004 during the transition to a successor leadership.
A 100th birth anniversary ceremony for a Chinese leader has been held seven times: for Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun, and now former President Jiang.
Former leaders including Wen Jiabao and Wang Qishan attended the event, but former President Hu Jintao did not appear, Hong Kong outlet Sing Tao Daily reported.
China's high-profile commemoration of Jiang's 100th birth anniversary is also seen as an effort to bolster party unity and consolidate the power base ahead of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, scheduled for October.