CHINA: The death of deposed Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang barely made China's newspapers yesterday but at Peking University, the vanguard of 1989 democracy movement that led to his downfall, it did not go unnoticed.
A discussion thread on Zhao's death was second on the list of the top "10 big hot topics" on the school's online bulletin board.
"We all took note of it," said a 20-year-old economics student.
On campus yesterday, some students expressed sorrow over Zhao's death, and sympathy for the man who died at 85 after more than 15 years under house arrest.
A sociology major said Zhao's death would have little impact on today's China, but the man was still worthy of praise.
"I admire Zhao Ziyang," he said. "Zhao was a leader with a long vision, but he was not so practical. He is somebody whose loss the whole country should mourn."
In 1989, Zhao was against the use of force to quell student-led protests centred on Tiananmen Square, and tried to convince the students to leave peacefully and engage in a dialogue with the leadership.
The students and protesters did not leave the square, however, and the leadership called in the army on the night of June 3-4 to crush the movement. Hundreds were killed and Zhao was removed as the party's General Secretary three weeks later.
"The students back then had the right starting point," said a mechanics student surnamed Xue.
"I just think they maybe were used in the end for political purposes." - (Reuters)