Zhu Houze (Chinese: 朱厚泽; January 1931 – 9 May 2010) was a Chinese politician most active in the 1980s, best known for his term as head of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party. As head of the department he presided over a period of liberalism in the Chinese press.
Zhu Houze | |
|---|---|
| 朱厚泽 | |
 | |
| Head of Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party | |
| In office August 1985 – February 1987 | |
| General Secretary | Hu Yaobang |
| Preceded by | Deng Liqun |
| Succeeded by | Wang Renzhi |
| Party Secretary of Guizhou | |
| In office April – August 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Chi Biqing |
| Succeeded by | Hu Jintao |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 1931 Zhijin County, Guizhou, China |
| Died | 9 May 2010 (aged 79) Beijing |
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party |
| Alma mater | Guiyang Normal College |
Biography
editZhu was born in Zhijin County, Guizhou province. He joined the Communist Party in 1949, the year the People's Republic of China was founded. He attended Guiyang Normal College.[1] In 1964, during the Socialist Education Movement, Zhu was expelled from the Communist Party and sent to perform manual labour.[2]
Zhu was politically rehabilitated in 1978, then became head of the party organization in Guiyang, then promoted to provincial First Secretary of Guizhou. During his tenure in Guizhou he was known for the significant progress the province made in economic development; the annual increase in industrial output increased by 18%. Zhu's achievements were noted by national leaders such as Hu Yaobang.[2]
In April 1985, Zhu was named Guizhou party chief (top official of the province). In August that year, he was transferred to Beijing to serve as head of the Propaganda Department, becoming one of the top deputies of party General Secretary Hu Yaobang. During Zhu's term as propaganda department head, he spearheaded propaganda policy of "Generous, Tolerant, Relaxed" (宽厚、宽容、宽松), significantly loosening the ideological shackles of the communist state and leading to increased liberalization in the arts and in academic institutions.[2]
However, Zhu's fortunes and the policies he espoused were short-lived. Mirroring the fate of his patron Hu Yaobang, in February 1987 Zhu was dismissed from his propaganda post during the anti-bourgeois liberalization campaign.[3] Though disgraced, he was given a position at the State Council Rural Development Centre; during the 13th Party Congress held in 1987, he failed to secure election to the party's Central Committee; that is, he appeared on the candidate list but did not receive enough votes for confirmation. However, in 1988, reformist general secretary Zhao Ziyang named Zhu the first-ranked vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.[2]
Following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, Zhu was yet again purged for supporting the student movement. He was expelled for the second time in his life from the Chinese Communist Party.[4] He retreated from public view thereafter and died on May 9, 2010, in Beijing.[5]
References
edit- ^ "原中共中央宣传部部长朱厚泽". 贵州师范大范学.[dead link]
- ^ a b c d 胡楠 (October 1, 1991). "三宽部长朱厚泽". 六四档案. Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
- ^ "何与怀：他在释放身上的历史积沉". Boxun.
- ^ "党员重新登记中共办理完毕 阎明复朱厚泽未获准入党". 六四档案（转载《联合报》）. September 7, 1990.
- ^ "仁心厚泽永留人间——朱厚泽先生逝世". Boxun.