Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin dies, aged 96

FORMER Chinese state and communist party leader Jiang Zemin has died at the age of 96, according to state news agency Xinhua on Wednesday.

The former president died at noon on Wednesday as a result of leukaemia and after multiple organ failure, Xinhua reported. All attempts to save him had failed, it added.

There had been rumours that the former leader had died or was unwell in recent weeks.

Flags on important government buildings will remain at half-mast until the day of the funeral, reported Xinhua, which has not yet been announced.

In accordance with Chinese custom, no representatives from abroad would be invited, though many high-ranking Party members will be in attendance.

Following the announcement of his death, state media hailed “Comrade Jiang Zemin” as an “outstanding leader with high prestige” and called him a “great Marxist and a great proletarian revolutionary”. He was general secretary of the Communist Party from 1989 to 2002 and president from 1993 to 2003.

After the bloody suppression

In accordance with Chinese custom, no representatives from abroad would be invited.

of the democracy movement on June 4, 1989, and the overthrow of the reformist party leader Zhao Ziyang, Jiang - then mayor of Shanghai - was elevated to the post of new party leader, leading China through an era of unprecedented economic growth.

The wave of protests against China’s harsh zero COVID policy at the weekend has already led to speculation whether demonstrators might now use mourning for Jiang as a prerequisite for new protest actions. The large numbers of police officers amassed in the major cities are ready to try to prevent any rebellion.