From the Jamestown Foundation’s China Brief:
Even assuming that recent reports about President Hu Jintao’s intention to “rehabilitate the reputation” of the late Chinese Communist Party (CCP) chief Hu Yaobang are true, this seems yet another instance of the Chinese supremo’s well-disguised Machiavellianism. Evidence abounds that the 62 year-old CCP General Secretary and commander-in-chief is continuing to harass cadres and scholars close to another deceased CCP chieftain, Zhao Ziyang, who, like Hu Yaobang, lost power because of his ultra-liberal ideology. President Hu’s apparent plans to burnish the memory of Hu Yaobang, a former mentor of his, are geared toward consolidating his already-substantial hold over the reins of power.
