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Release Date: 2009-05-19
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| For China Wonks, A Treasure TroveWith all the names, dates, places, meetings and detailed discussions of topics like the provenance of the tag-line phrases "initial stage of socialism" and "socialist spiritual civilization," Zhao Ziyang's posthumously published memoir - and it is surely Zhao who is speaking to us here - is indeed a true China wonk's book, filled with content that will be revelatory to anyone who knows the period and participants. It is above all the most important document by a senior leader operating in a closed political system since _Khrushchev Remembers_, primarily because, like the Tiananmen Papers, it lifts the veil on political life among the handful of decisionmakers in the People's Republic.
And some of this - but not very much - is in the Tiananmen Papers. For the most part, however, Zhao is laying in his own record of events that he personally participated in, leading with the Tiananmen incident of June 1989, but going back to the beginnings of reform and opening, for which Zhao's leadership in Sichuan province (and Wan Li's in Anhui) were seminal in the testing of agricultural reforms that were the foundation of China's present relative prosperity, and forward to an evaluation of China after Zhao's political demise and Zhao's evaluation of the leaders he worked with during nearly a decade at the center of the storm in Beijing.
Throughout, Zhao relies on what must have been a prodigious memory - assisted, almost certainly, by former assistant Bao Tong and other friends and colleagues. It's interesting, though, that Zhao gets some dates wrong (as pointed out by editorial notes by Bao Pu, son of Bao Tong), which suggests that, unlike most other memoirists, he had no documentation to work from and had to rely solely on his own notes and recall. From Zhao we get marvelous glimpses of how petty and preening life at the top was - and almost certainly remains, in a land where Politburo members are treated, except by themselves, as living gods. Moreover, following reports of a meeting between Deng and two other of the "Eight Immortal" senior party elders, Zhao gives a nod to their characterization of Deng's role as an authoritative "mother-in-law" to the Politburo Standing Committee, observing that this was an apt way of describing how the system worked. We also get detailed confirmation of how great a pack of old fools, opportunists, and ideologues were men like Li Xiannian, Bo Yibo, Li Peng, Yao Yilin, Hu Qiaomu, and Deng Liqun. Peng Zhen, the "grinning tiger," on the other hand, comes off rather well (as he does in the Tiananmen Papers, lobbying for the moderate reformer Wan Li to replace Zhao as party chief), as does Hu Qili, who was tossed overboard along with Zhao in May 1989.
Readers will want to know what Zhao, reflecting in his long political exile, ultimately thought of Deng Xiaoping, father of China's modern economy. Zhao provides a balanced appraisal of Deng, filled with gratitude at the opportunities Deng extended to him and at the same time pointing out problems of Deng's making, underscoring the fact that Deng was an economic liberal who wanted to unleash market forces in China but was NEVER a political reformer; instead, Deng was the driving force behind a host of "anti-liberal" campaigns that Chinese and Western analysts like had attributed primarily to Chen Yun, Hu Qiaomu, and Deng Liqun and that created problems and contradictions within the reform movement. Zhao also provides a balanced, sympathetic account of his predecessor as party general secretary, Hu Yaobang, whose great-hearted impetuousness sped him to an early political demise, primarily, in Zhao's estimation, because Hu failed to take Deng's political conservatism and absolutely deference to the Communist Party's political primacy more seriously and immediately.
Specialists will find this book thoroughly engrossing and the voice absolutely authentic. I'm astonished, however, that Simon and Schuster didn't see fit to help specialists and generalists out by including an index. The book does have a very useful 15 pp dramatis personae for which many, like readers of Russian novels, will be grateful. As Zhao's apology, this is a good one, and Zhao gives himself a good deal of credit for China's early advances in economic reform. He should: he was literally at the center of the storm during the seminal years of transformation and held the field against determined political foes. Many of his ideas, bloodied and battered, have been realized or remain in play, continuing to shape the debate particularly about political reform. One hopes that some day Chinese citizens will be able to freely acknowledge their debt to this their great countryman and mention him in the same breath as Deng Xiaoping, whose close colleague, idea man, sounding board, and implementing agent he was for the foundational decade.
Behind the Silk CurtainZhao Ziyang rose to become Premier and later General Secretary of the Communist Party. Although he now held the most senior position in China's Leadership, he had to deal with an older generation of party veterans who lacked official titles but wielded ultimate authority. Zhao was supreme leader Deng Xiaoping's man and Deng began the process of transforming China's economy.
During the Tiananmen Square protests Zhao felt that the situation was not initially as serious as it later became and advocated defusing tensions by holding a series of meetings with and speeches to the students. Hardliners disagreed and what happened next reads like something out of Shakespeare as elders circled with daggers in their sleeves.
Zhao was cast from power and spent the remainder of his life under house arrest. He was unable to speak with journalists, foreigners or former colleagues. Through it all he kept a secret journal which was smuggled out of China after his death. In it he recounts the transformation and rapid growth of the Chinese economy, Tiananmen Square and his political downfall, and his prescription for the future China. This is a rare glimpse behind China's silk curtain of power.
I read Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang immediately after reading Beijing Coma: A Novel and would recommend that other interested readers do the same.
good servicemy book is in good condition and shipped very soon after my order checked out!
An Unique and Critical Document in the history of PRC and CCPIn the 60's of 20th century,Liu Shaoqi,former president of PRC, senior leader of CCP died in a secret place without no reason.In the first ten years of 21st century Zhao Ziyang,former general secratary of CCP,died with great disappointment and regret about CCP and reform of China.Who will be the next one?
Editors Did Great, Could Have Gone Extra MileMost people miss the two bottom lines that I found engaging:
1. China's government is a screwed up bureaucracy with petty egos just like ours.
2. China produced moderate pragmatist Premier Zhao Ziyang, promoted him, and empowered him.
With all due respect to all those wailing and moaning about the years of house arrest, this book is phenomenal for documenting the above two points alone, and Premier Zhao Ziyang will stand in history as one of the greatest leaders along with Mao Zedong (their rendition, I always preferred Mao Tse-tung) and Deng Xiaoping.
The book consists of six parts with thirty-sevel chapters bracketed by an introduction and an epilogue. It is based on tapes smuggled out from China and made secretly by Zhao Ziyang, and while I do not discount a marvelous Information Operation (IO) by the Chinese (along with Cuba, my two most admired counterpart intelligence services), on balance this appears to be the real deal.
The primary focus of this book is on the three years in power, NOT on the decades in provincial positions where he was a pragmatic and extraordinarily successful leader; nor on the decade of house arrest. This book is a "Memorandum for the Record" as the protagonist remembers it, naming names all along the way.
It is important to note that Zhao Ziyang was rehabilitated by Mao himself, and this is a testament to the fact that Zhao, like so many others, was improperly demoted to rehabilitation and remediation camps.
The book publishes the outcome of the failed investigation into Zhao Ziyang, which was itself never published in China or shared outside the small circle of power.
Most will focus on the student unrest and the Tieneman Square confrontation. While I have already summed up what mattered to me from this book, the following quote is very worthwhile: "I refused to be the General Secretary who mobilized the military to crack down on the students."
Deng comes across as a great leader who is open to change surrounded by others who prefer the planned economy, and having a difficult time "herding cats" at the top. I am very impressed by the agricultural reform and the move away from collective farming to "those who farm will have land," which unleashed the entrepreneurial power of individual production.
There is a chapter on the special eceonomic zones, and a lot of focus on anti-corruption efforts which by this book's account appear to have been overdone.
There was huge internal conflict over foreign investment, and a really impressive focus at the top on scale and efficiency. These are SMART leaders, whatever their petty peronal issues might be.
Zhao Ziyang ran the Chinese economy for ten years, and I put down the book stunned with both his success, and with the inadequacy of the book in communicating that success in raw terms related to the complexity of China, second perhaps only to India in that regard (complexity, they are co-equal in standing with Brazil, Indonesia, and Russia, and soon I might add Turkey and Iran).
He learned from the French and the British that massive irrigation projects seeking to control nature were not smart, and instead refocused China on farming with nature. See Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America for additional perspective on why this is so righteous.
I grew up in Asia, and still treasure the copy of The Little Red Book that was given to my father when he was acpatured by Vietnamese militia sailing past Hainan on his way to Hong Kong. I am very familiar with the catch phrases that China was always used to summarize complex policies, and this book does not lack of them:
"Emancipating the Mind" along with "Remaining Clean (of Corruption)" and "Practice is the sole criterion of Truth" are among my favorites from this particular work. China graduates more high school HONOR students than the USA graduates from across its ENTIRE dumbed-down high school population, and that's the ugly truth.
In find 1988 featured in the protagonist's memory as a really tough year, and observe that is also the year in which Bin Laden started the global creation of madrasses teaching the virulent form of Wahabbism funded by Saudi Arabia, and also the year in which General Al Gray, then Commandant of the Marine Corps, created the first intelligence center in the USA focused on global coverage, and realized that we were failing to both study the Third World and failing to make proper use of open sources of information. 1988 will be the year in which future histories begin their story about the implosion of the USA, the end of predatory immoral capitalism, and the rise of collective public intelligence and conscious capitalism.
I learn that China is *very* succeptible to rumor and panic buying.
I find the conclusion to be fantastic. In his reflections under house arrest, Zhoa Ziyang concluded that China must extablish political liberty to acompnay economic freedom, and stressed the need to manage multi-level dialog and freedom of the press. In retirement he found socialism shallow and converted to parliamentary democracy as the best possible means for managing complex China.
There is an analysis of Deng that includes a description of Deng as "empty words" and a conclusion that Deng absolutely refused actual political reform. Generally Deng is believed to have moved away from Mao, but to have been too senior for others to challenge so they took it out on Zhao instead. On balance, being already impressed with China's economic progress, I can only wonder what might have been had Deng trusted his instincts and given Zhao all possible support.
The back of the book offers a listing of names with one paragraph biographies, but it is not enough. The publisher should consider re-issuing this important work with many diagrams that show "who's who" in relation to specific party organs and policies across a time line. I have long stressed the need for a line of intelligence collection and analysis that focuses on "who said what when." CIA still does not know how to do that (or want to do that), so on issues from the Spratley Islands to Africa to Argentina and China's new south, generally the US Government has no clue.
I started to give this book four stars, but on review of my notes, I have to come up to five stars. If they re-do the book as I have suggested, it will be listed at Phi Beta Iota as Beyond 6 Stars.
Product Description "Zhao may be more dangerous in death than he was in life."
-- Time How often can you peek behind the curtains of one of the most secretive governments in the world? Prisoner of the State is the first book to give readers a front row seat to the secret inner workings of China's government. It is the story of Premier Zhao Ziyang, the man who brought liberal change to that nation and who, at the height of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, tried to stop the massacre and was dethroned for his efforts. When China's army moved in, killing hundreds of students and other demonstrators, Zhao was placed under house arrest at his home on a quiet alley in Beijing. China's most promising change agent had been disgraced, along with the policies he stood for. The premier spent the last sixteen years of his life, up until his death in 2005, in seclusion. An occasional detail about his life would slip out: reports of a golf excursion, a photo of his aging visage, a leaked letter to China's leaders. But China scholars often lamented that Zhao never had his final say. As it turns out, Zhao did produce a memoir in complete secrecy. He methodically recorded his thoughts and recollections on what had happened behind the scenes during many of modern China's most critical moments. The tapes he produced were smuggled out of the country and form the basis for Prisoner of the State. In this audio journal, Zhao provides intimate details about the Tiananmen crackdown; he describes the ploys and double crosses China's top leaders use to gain advantage over one another; and he talks of the necessity for China to adopt democracy in order to achieve long-term stability. The China that Zhao portrays is not some long-lost dynasty. It is today's China, where the nation's leaders accept economic freedom but continue to resist political change. If Zhao had survived -- that is, if the hard-line hadn't prevailed during Tiananmen -- he might have been able to steer China's political system toward more openness and tolerance. Zhao's call to begin lifting the Party's control over China's life -- to let a little freedom into the public square -- is remarkable coming from a man who had once dominated that square. Although Zhao now speaks from the grave in this moving and riveting memoir, his voice has the moral power to make China sit up and listen.
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