China Tightens Censorship as It Mourns Zhu Rongji

China lowered flags to half-mast on Tuesday as former Premier Zhu Rongji was cremated at Beijing's Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery. Authorities tightened security around Tiananmen Square and the Zhongnanhai leadership compound as the country officially mourned one of the architects of its economic transformation.

Zhu, who died at the age of 97, served as vice premier before becoming premier from 1998 to 2003. He spearheaded sweeping economic reforms, tackling inflation, overhauling the banking system and restructuring inefficient state-owned enterprises.

Those reforms cost millions of workers their jobs but helped transform the Chinese economy and paved the way for the country's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001.

His death prompted mixed reactions on Chinese social media, with some users recalling an era of rapid economic growth while others criticized the painful consequences of his reforms, particularly the mass layoffs at state-owned enterprises.

Authorities, however, have closely controlled public mourning and online discussion of Zhu's legacy. The deaths of prominent Chinese leaders have proved politically sensitive in the past, with public mourning on several occasions becoming a catalyst for wider protests against the government.

(Reuters, Max)