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Former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao pays tribute to late mother who ‘taught me not to take what isn’t mine’
- Wen wrote that his mother, who died last year, had shown him how to live a frugal, honest life after the hardships of his early years
- Personal reflections of this kind are a rarity among senior Chinese leaders
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Former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has published a personal reminiscence about his late mother, saying she taught him to live an honest, thrifty life.
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Whereas personal memoirs are commonplace among Western politicians, it is unusual for a retired Chinese leader to publish such a personal account because the state maintains rigid controls over all narratives relating to state affairs.
In an article originally published in a newspaper in Macau, Wen presented both his mother and himself as people tested by hardship and uncorrupted by power.
Wen, 78, wrote that his mother, Yang Zhiyun, who passed away in her late 90s at the end of last year, had suffered tumultuous days of war and political purges but maintained high moral standards throughout.
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