Zhao Ziyang

China is quickly becoming an economic power house. They still have a long way to go in the human rights area. Zhao Ziyang died and news of his death and deeds are being pulled down from the media and web. This silence is mostly due to his involvement failing to to quell the pro-democracy movement that led up to the Tiananmen Square blood bath.

In response to Zhao's death, the Chinese government banned news agencies from reporting his passing. Popular Chinese Websites were also ordered to restrict any discussion of the former leader and CNN broadcasts to hotels and apartment complexes were blacked out whenever Zhao was mentioned.

The odd thing is that economic change and restored private ownership in China is part of what he envisioned. It is almost as if he could be a poster child for the future of the party. His death will not cause riots and another Tiananmen Square blood bath. Why? Economic changes have made much of the disenfranchising happy. The youth demonstrators of then are busy slaving away today to make as much money as possible.