Commentary
Most Westerners know about JiangZemin through Robert Lawrence Kuhn’s biography “Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of JiangZemin.” Now that Jiang is gone, it’s time to evaluate his legacy to see how he changed China.
In that time, Wang has risen to prominence as a close confident to the succession of China’s paramount leaders—the “Emperor’s Tutor” to General Secretaries JiangZemin, Hu Jintao, and now to Xi Jinping.
In July 1999, seeing that the number of Falun Gong practitioners had reached 70 million, surpassing the CCP’s party membership, former CCP leader JiangZemin launched a nationwide persecution against the faith group.
(Feng Li/Getty Images)
Shanghai is traditionally the stronghold of the eponymous Shanghai clique, an informal political faction that formed around the patronage network of former General Secretary JiangZemin during his tenure as mayor of Shanghai.
It's widely believed that then-Chinese leader JiangZemin ordered the campaign because he felt threatened that there were more people practising Falun Gong than there were members of the Party.
The industry used to be under the control of JiangZemin and his handler Zeng Qinghong. The Shanghai clique has been at odds with Xi since he assumed power.
“Unlike Christianity, Falun Gong was not well-known, and the CCP, under [former leader] JiangZemin, conducted extensive smear campaigns against Falun Gong internationally, leading to a gradual understanding of Falun Gong within the U.S. government,”
Taking Falun Gong’s popularity in China as a threat to the communist regime, then-CCP leader JiangZemin launched a nationwide persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in July 1999, which is still ongoing.
In fact, its graduates include former Chinese leader JiangZemin and current leader Xi Jinping. Both graduated from Renmin University with degrees in mechanical engineering.
Han is viewed as a member of a political faction—known as the "Jiang faction" for its loyalty to former CCP leader JiangZemin—that opposes Xi Jinping's leadership.
In 1990, then-CCP General Secretary JiangZemin told Barbara Walters, “I think [he was] never killed.” If he was, it was after being charged with “political hooliganism” which is pretty funny until they shoot you.
JiangZemin [former CCP leader] sold more than 1 million square kilometers (386,102 square miles) of China’s territory to Russia, which is the size of dozens of Taiwans," he said.
After the publication of this article in the PLA Daily, rumors that “JiangZemin and Zeng Qinghong will be restored” became widespread, and Beijing was shrouded with suspicion of a coup d’état.
Hu and then-premier Wen Jiabao encountered obstruction from former CCP head JiangZemin who had his own faction.
After aligning himself with Mr. Hu and Mr. Wen, Gen. Wei was promoted to deputy chief of general staff of the PLA in 2010.
Believing the popularity of the spiritual practice to be a threat to his power and the atheistic ideology of the Chinese Communist Party, then-Party leader JiangZemin ordered the practice to be eradicated on July 20, 1999.
In particular, the arrests of and charges against retired security officials reflect Xi’s longstanding attempts to cleanse the Party of entrenched influence from the JiangZemin faction.
Some critics believe that by exalting both Mao and Xi, but avoiding mentioning Deng, JiangZemin, and Hu Jintao, the three former leaders of the CCP, the article seems to hint that there are only "two great leaders" in China, and that the purpose is to
On July 20, 1999, former CCP dictator JiangZemin launched a persecution and an extensive propaganda campaign against Falun Gong and its tens of millions of adherents due to the popularity of the practice that was not under the control of the state.
In the 2000s, the school established its “China’s Leaders in Development” program for such students; November 1997 saw then-CCP chief JiangZemin visit Harvard and speak to an audience of 1,000.
Former Chinese Communist Party leader JiangZemin died at age 96 on Nov. 30. Jiang was the architect of the persecution of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong.
It was this rekindling of China’s spiritual and moral foundation, quashed during the Cultural Revolution, that lit the ire of then-Communist Party leader JiangZemin in 1999, and the campaign to eliminate Falun Gong that continues today.
“It appears that Xi Jinping is continuing his purge of officials related to JiangZemin. Even after having been in power for 10 years and purged many leaders, Xi still feels his control is insufficient,” he said.
On Feb. 22, 2005, more than 10 organizations, including the Epoch Media Group, the Farewell to the CCP Alliance, and the Global Coalition to Bring JiangZemin to Justice, joined forces to establish the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP, a nonprofit
In July 1999, former CCP leader JiangZemin launched a persecution of Falun Gong, an ancient cultivation practice based on the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.