China's Tell-All Memoir

Secretary General Zhao Ziyang was one of the few voices in China's political elite who lobbied for a dialogue with protesting students in the lead-up to the Tiananman Square massacre. His perspective was summarily ignored, and he had to stand idly by as the sounds of gunshots rang through Beijing. Now, having died in 2005, Zhao is criticizing his old colleagues from beyond the grave with a new memoir that offers a rare window into the pinnacle of political power in China. In the memoir, Zhao claims to have been one of the leaders who spearheaded the opening of China's economy, an achievement usually credited to another, more well-known Communist leader, Deng Xiaoping. Typically, Chinese politicians do not openly criticize the government's policies. The new memoir is already being hailed as an invaluable historical document.