ANALYSIS – The death of the former president awakens nostalgia for a bygone era, as anger rumbles against power.
Correspondent in Asia
“Don’t be afraid to be naïve!” The post is looping on the Chinese web, accompanied by the thick black-rimmed glasses dear to the late President Jiang Zemin. Chinese protesters defying Xi Jinping’s ‘zero Covid’ strategy have found an unexpected, and unassailable, hero to dribble past censorship and chip away at the stature of the most authoritarian leader since Mao: hijacking a earthy formula from his predecessor, whose funeral take place Tuesday in Beijing under high security, the day after the largest demonstrations in China since those in Tiananmen Square.
“You are too young, too naive”, Jiang launched in 2000, with sparkling eyes, calling on Hong Kong journalists to imitate the rigor of their American counterparts in a casual conversation, full of flavor. A familiarity that contrasts with the imperious coldness of Xi, who severely lectured Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for having…
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