Washington to lobby the Clinton administration

[shoponhossaiassn]

When Deng emerged from retirement in 1992 to push for reviving market-style reform in the face of conservative opposition after the Tiananmen crackdown, Jiang followed.

He supported Premier Zhu Rongji, the party's No. 3 leader, who forced through painful changes that slashed as many as 40 million jobs in state industry in the late 1990s.

Zhu also launched the privatization of urban housing, igniting a building boom that transformed Chinese cities into forests of high-rises and propelled economic growth.

After 12 years of negotiations and a flight by Zhu to for support, China joined the WTO in 2001, cementing its position as a magnet for foreign investment.

CLINTON ZEMIN
Chinese President Jiang Zemin speaks on the South Lawn of the buy phone number list White House as President Clinton looks on, October 29, 1997, during a state arrival ceremony for the Chinese president.
AP/Ron Edmonds
Despite a genial public image, Jiang dealt severely with challenges to ruling party power.

His highest-profile target was Falun Gong, a meditation group founded in the early '90s. Chinese leaders were spooked by the group's ability to attract tens of thousands of followers, including military officers.

Activists who tried to form an opposition China Democracy Party, a move permitted by Chinese law, were sentenced to up to 12 years in prison on subversion charges.

"Stability above all else," Jiang ordered, in a phrase his successors have used to justify intensive social controls.

It fell to Jiang, standing beside Britain's Prince Charles, to preside over the return of Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, symbolizing the end of 150 years of European colonialism. The nearby Portuguese territory of Macao was returned to China in 1999.