The most senior Communist Party official Bao Tong passed away at the age of 90. He was detained in connection with the Tiananmen protests. During the pro-democracy protest in the 1980s, he promoted political reforms.
His son announced his passing on Wednesday saying that he peacefully passed in Beijing. This news came with condolences from all over the world. Some even praised him on Twitter.
Tong was ousted and imprisoned for seven years after putting an end to his campaign. Tong’s name is still unreachable on Weibo.
Born in 1932, the leader joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, the same year that it seized power on the Chinese mainland. He served as Zhao Ziyang’s top adviser in the 1980s. Zhao has been considered to be one of the prominent leaders. Tong worked his way up to Zhao’s political secretary, BBC reported.
Tong contributed to the creation of political and economic changes aimed at modernising the power structures. He was one of the top officials of the model group leadership that the leader adopted to prevent the concentration of power on one hand.
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However, his career came to an end on June 04, when he showed sympathy to the growing pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989. He was arrested in 1989, and 1992 saw his trial. The leader was charged with revealing state secrets and counter-revolutionary propagandising. Tong was pronounced guilty and received a seven-year prison sentence.
Even Zhao’s career came to an end. He was living under house arrest and passed away in 2005.
In an interview with BBC in 2019, Tong on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen protests said that he feels that he has accomplished nothing in his life.
(With inputs from agencies)
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