TNAG-1869-FCO40-2657-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-Macau-1989 — Page 39

SWB

j

FE/0527 B2/1

B. INTERNAL AFFAIRS

2. CHINA

5 Aug 89

'RENMIN RIBAO' ATTACK ON YAN JIAQI

‘Renmin Ribao' 3 Aug 89

Text of article by Li Jiansheng (2621 1696 3932), “Yan Jiaqi, the ‘elite' of the turmoil” (FE/0526 i)

The self-assumed “elite” of the intelligentsia are in fact the scum of Chinese intellectuals. In the turmoil and the counter- revolutionary rebellion in Peking, they in fact played roles as plotters, instigators, organisers and commanders. Yan Jiaqi is one of these people.

I.

For some people, who are not aware of the true facts, Yan Jiaqi is an “elite academic”. In fact, even 10 years ago, he was interested in street politics and illegal activities, and had harboured some political ambitions. At that time, he was busy coming into frequent contact with the ringleaders of such illegal organisations as the Enlightenment Society and the Regeneration Society in Peking and in other cities, and such illegal publications as 'Siwu Bao' ['April 5th Journal']. He attended meetings, gave advice and even donated money. He also participated directly in various activities under the Xidan Wall, thus becoming an active advocate of Western-style "democracy” and “freedom”, beginning his political career.

After the Xidan Wall and the illegal organisations were banned, Yan Jiaqi began his “academic research" in political science. His main “research achievements” were three books: One entitled "History of the 10-Year Cultural Revolution”, which just rigged up the contents of posters and various rumours circulated during the cultural revolution. The other book, entitled "On Political Leaders", preaches bourgeois political viewpoints. The third book is his "Biography of Thinking", in which he bragged about himself. His basic political viewpoint is that China should establish a political structure with checks and balances of power through three separate branches of government, and eliminate the leadership of the communist party. He held that Marxism is a "closed ideological system" and that safeguarding the purity of Marxism is just “to protect China's feudalist culture”. In short, what he hoped for was the abandonment of the four cardinal principles and the peddling of American-style bourgeois democracy in China.

He maintained close co-operation with and echoed some people who stubbornly stuck to the position of bourgeois liberalisation, and he became an important representative of such people. Therefore, he was called by some people at home and abroad a "new-type political scientist”, a “political elite”, a "theoretical authority in the field of political reform”, a "fighter for democracy", a "representative of liberal intellectuals" and a "famous person in the contemporary

world". He thus gained considerable fame for a time, and was frequently invited to "visit" some Western countries, where he found favour in the eyes of some Western political leaders. He was also willing to be a mouthpiece of the Western bourgeoisie in China. It is no wonder that he also found favour with Comrades Zhao Ziyang and Bao Tong. In the autumn of 1986, they appointed Yan Jiaqi to an important position in the office of the Central Political Structural Reform Research Group. Bao Tong once telephoned the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, requesting that Yan be kept in the position of the directorship of the Political Science Institute and that an official car be used by Yan so that his activities could be ensured. After that, Yan Jiaqi became a major member of Zhao Ziyang's think tank.

In early 1987, after the struggle against bourgois liberalisation began, Yan Jiaqi was investigated by the department concerned. He immediately sought assistance from Bao Tong and wrote a letter to Bao to defend his mistakes. On 20th March, Bao Tong wrote a report in the name of the Central Political Structural Reform Research Group to Zhao Ziyang, saying that Yan Jiaqi's problems that were being investigated were not true but "were just based on unfounded rumours", and saying that Yan Jiaqi “always observed discipline" and should be kept in the political structural reform research group to continue his work "as usual”. Comrade Zhao Ziyang immediately expressed agreement with this and wrote an instruction to the appropriate responsible person. Thus, Yan Jiaqi was shielded and kept in a key position.

II.

After the third plenary session of the 13th CCP Central Committee, when facing strong criticism inside and outside the party, Comrade Zhao Ziyang did not examine his own mistakes, but continued to assume a negative attitude towards the central policy for economic rectification and improvement. Then, that figure in Zhao's think tank tried to stir up an upsurge of "supporting Zhao through overthrowing Deng". He made use of some overseas reactionary journals and newspapers to advocate that only with "Deng Xiaoping's thorough retirement" could China "have a bright future" "under Zhao Ziyang's dictatorial reform”.

This was a political signal. Yan Jiaqi not only maintained connections with Bao Tong, but also maintained connections with anti-communist, anti-China reactionary forces in overseas areas. In the upsurge of "supporting Zhao through overthrowing Deng", the most noticeable action he took was to publish his "dialogue with Wen Yuankai on the current situation". After it had been polished by a reporter who was rather active in the turmoil and the counter-revolutionary rebellion, the dialogue was published almost simultaneously by 'Jingjixue Zhoubao' and some journals in Hongkong. 'Shijie Jingji Daobao' also published a report about the basic contents of this dialogue. The main point in this dialogue can still be