China lowers flags, tightens security for former premier Zhu Rongji’s funeral

China lowered national flags at government headquarters on Tuesday to mourn the passing of former premier Zhu Rongji, the no-nonsense reformer who died at age 97. Security was heightened across the city, especially around Tiananmen Square, the epicenter of China's political power. Zhu served as vice premier from 1991 to 1998 and then as premier from 1998 to 2003.

He played a pivotal role in China's hard-hitting economic overhaul during the 1990s, tackling runaway inflation, tightening tax and banking systems, and implementing a sweeping state-sector reform that led to millions of job losses in unprofitable state firms. His reforms also paved the way for China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, solidifying its integration into the global economy.

Zhu's legacy is a complex one, with some mourning his passing while others welcomed it. Like other former premiers who have died in recent years, Zhu's death was met with subdued, tightly managed public expressions of grief, heightened security, and censorship. The deaths of prominent former leaders have historically sparked public emotion and, at times, instability when remembrance turns into criticism of those in power.

In 1976, following the death of Zhou Enlai, the first and widely respected premier of the People's Republic of China, tens of thousands gathered in Tiananmen Square in protest against the excesses of the Cultural Revolution and radical officials associated with it.