dpa
Beijing
Bao Tong, a former leading member of the Chinese Communist Party who fell into disgrace for sympathizing with the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, is dead, his family has told dpa.
Bao died on Wednesday of a pulmonary embolism. "He knew he was sick and he was ready for it,” a family source told dpa. He was 90.
Bao was the right-hand man of the Chinese premier at the time, Zhao Ziyang. But Zhao was ousted in 1989 for expressing support for the Tiananmen Square protests, which drew thousands and ended in bloodshed when China eventually sent in the armed forces.
Zhao was put under house arrest until his death in 2005. But Bao was handed seven years in prison, the highest-ranking party official to serve time because of the protests.
Before his imprisonment, Bao had been director of the Office of Political Reform. After his release from prison, he became a passionate critic of the Chinese leadership, becoming one of the last opposition voices still in China who was not in prison.
Nevertheless, he was under constant government observation.
"China is a lawless country,” Bae told dpa in an interview a year ago. The lack of the rule of law was creating "a climate of fear,” which meant that abuse and inconsistent application of the laws was now "the norm.” "No one knows if the way they operate is approved or forbidden,” hesaid. People have no protections, whether they be normal citizens, businesspeople or even party functionaries.
"Without equality before the law no one can live without fear.” That means problems never get fixed, he argued.
"Whenever there is a problem, people are scared to speak up and don’t have the confidence to make suggestions on how to fix it,” he said.
"Everyone covers it up and pretends its OK. That’s the most dangerous part.”