Jiang Zemin

(1926– )

   Veteran Chinese communist leader who unexpectedly rose to power in the People’s Republic of China after the fall of Zhao Ziyang and crushing of the pro-democracy movement in June 1989. Jiang trained as an electrical engineer and worked in the machine building industry for 26 years. He kept a low profile during the Cultural Revolution, his political career only becoming noteworthy in the 1980s. With his background he became vice chairman of the State Council’s commissions on imports, exports and foreign investments in 1980 and from 1982 to 1985 he served as electronic industry minister. In 1985 he became mayor of Shanghai and during this time he defused student protests without resort to the military. After the outbreak of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 Jiang was the first provincial leader to indicate his support for martial law in Beijing, and he was brought to the capital by Deng Xiaoping after the Tiananmen Square massacre and made a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and the party Secretariat. In November 1989 he succeeded Deng Xiaoping, becoming president of the People’s Republic of China and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. Jiang has overseen gradual economic reforms in China, although favoring a much more conservative approach to change in the political sphere.