China to mark centenary of liberal leader Hu Yaobang, the man whose death sparked Tiananmen protests

Official commemorations of the centenary of the birth of late Communist Party chief Hu Yaobang, whose death in 1989 sparked the Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, will take place over the next week, his son said on Monday.

But scholars say the events do not amount to a reversal of the official verdict in 1987 that the liberal leader had made “grave mistakes” of tolerating “bourgeois liberalisation”.

His son, Hu Dehua, said the activities would take place in his father’s hometown in Liuyang, Hunan, next Monday and a formal ceremony was expected to be held in Beijing around November 20, his birthday. He declined to elaborate.

He also refused to say which officials might attend Beijing ceremony and if it would be similar to the 90th anniversary events at the Great Hall of the People in 2005. Those commemorations were attended by then-premier Wen Jiabao  and vice-president Zeng Qinghong.

Read more: Son of reformer Hu Yaobang rues lost chance for change, 25 years after his father’s death

Articles on Hu’s legacy have appeared in state media in recent weeks, including one yesterday in China Youth Daily by Hu’s granddaughter, Hu Zhizhi. It also appeared on the party’s news portal. Late last month, party mouthpiece People’s Daily carried an excerpt from his daughter’s book, talking about Hu’s determination to crack down on official corruption.

Liberal political journal Yanhuang Chunqiu also carried a series of articles on Hu’s legacy in the October and November issues.