Why China Is Keeping Zhu Rongji’s Funeral Under Tight Watch

China held the funeral of former premier Zhu Rongji on Tuesday, lowering national flags and imposing tight security around Beijing as authorities closely managed public expressions of mourning for the economic reformer, Reuters reported.

Zhu's body was cremated at Babaoshan, the Beijing cemetery for senior officials and national heroes. President Xi Jinping and the other six members of the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee stood in silence and bowed three times before the cremation, according to China's official Xinhua news agency. Former president Hu Jintao sent a wreath of condolence.

Security was heightened across Beijing, particularly around Tiananmen Square and Zhongnanhai, China's main political centre, along the route to the cemetery.

Mourning Under Scrutiny

Zhu's death sparked an outpouring of grief on Chinese social media, but posts expressing criticism of his record were also removed.

Reuters reported that one Weibo user, whose parents had been laid off during Zhu's state-sector reforms, wrote that they would "have to raise a glass tonight". Another post called Zhu "the main culprit" for putting workers out of work. Both reflected the mixed public response to a leader remembered both for economic transformation and the social costs of his reforms.

Reuters said Zhu's death was handled in a subdued and tightly managed manner, with public expressions of grief subjected to increased security, scrutiny and censorship.

Chinese authorities have historically been wary of funerals for popular former leaders becoming centres of political mobilisation. The deaths of Zhou Enlai in 1976 and Hu Yaobang in 1989 were followed by large-scale public gatherings and, in Hu's case, pro-democracy demonstrations that culminated in the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Zhu’s Reform Legacy

Zhu served as China's vice premier from 1991 to 1998 and premier from 1998 to 2003. He drove an aggressive overhaul of the economy, including restructuring state-owned enterprises, tightening the banking and tax systems and tackling runaway inflation, Reuters reported.

His reforms eliminated millions of jobs at unprofitable state-owned firms but also helped prepare China for its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. Outlook India described him as a key figure in China's economic reforms and highlighted his role in restructuring state-owned enterprises and negotiating WTO entry.

The competing memories of Zhu's tenure have remained visible after his death. While some Chinese citizens remember the period as one of rapid growth and opening to the global economy, others associate it with layoffs and the upheaval caused by his reforms.