A former top aide to reformist leader Zhao Ziyang, a supporter of the student movement crushed by the military in 1989, died early Wednesday morning in Beijing, his son Bao Pu said in a brief post on Twitter. Bao Jian’s daughter said in another post that he “was still full of hope for this land.” He was quoted as saying on his 90th birthday on Saturday: “Man has a short historical existence in the world … whether I turn 90 or not is unimportant, but what is important is to fight for today and the future … and do everything we can, must and must do.” Dissident journalist Gao Yu, a close friend of Bao, said in a post that he died of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a rare type of blood cancer. Gao, who is under constant police surveillance, said she hoped she would be allowed to attend Bao’s funeral on November 15, although she was barred from attending the funeral of Bao’s wife in August. The funeral is likely to be a highly sensitive event, with dissidents and activists banned from attending. Zhao Ziyang (left) and Bao Tong (right) in 1989. Photo: EPA Bao was director of the Communist Party’s Political Reform Bureau before the government used armed troops and tanks to crush the pro-democracy movement. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for “leaking state secrets” and “inciting counter-revolutionary propaganda” – charges he said were fabricated. He was held for another year after his release in 1997, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. He had become one of the most vocal critics of the Communist Party over the past two decades, writing essays and speaking to reporters whenever he could while under surveillance. In recent years, he has used Twitter to voice his criticism of Xi Jinping’s policies and ideological tightening. Bao, who played a key role in Zhao Ziyang’s economic and political reforms in China’s “era of reform and opening up,” was a member of the party’s central committee and would have been a leading candidate to enter the powerful political office if he had not the repression. He said the crackdown that killed hundreds, if not thousands, on June 4, 1989 must be “totally rejected” if China is to move forward. Bao later said he had no regrets about his personal fate, but mourned for his countrymen, who had been denied free speech for more than two decades, and said the silencing of dissent had disastrous consequences.
