Zhao Ziyang’s Tiananmen Memoir Sells Out in 1st Chinese Edition

By Le-Min Lim
May 29 (Bloomberg) -- The Chinese version of Zhao Ziyang’s “Prisoner of the State,” a memoir recounting the decisions that led to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, sold out hours after it went on sale in Hong Kong bookstores today.
All 14,000 copies of “Gaige Licheng,” which means “Path to Reform” in English, went out to bookstores in unmarked trucks this morning, said Cheung Ka-wah, a spokeswoman at distributor Greenfield Book Store.
Many readers lined up outside shops to get their copies of the book, which retails for HK$128 ($16.50).
Greenfield has received an order for “at least another 14,000” copies, she said. “The phones just keep ringing,” Cheung said in a phone interview. “It’s been stressful.”
The Chinese version is published by Hong Kong-based New Century Press.
“Are we rewriting history? We are restoring history,” New Century’s publisher and editor Bao Pu said in a phone interview. “What you find in this book is closer to the truth than the official version.”
The late Zhao was purged as China’s Communist Party chief after he opposed using force against pro-democracy demonstrators in the square 20 years ago this month. His memoirs detail the bargaining within the country’s top leadership and reveal the triggers that led to the June 4, 1989, crackdown.
China is bracing for the anniversary next week.
The book was compiled from about 30 hours of recordings Zhao had secretly taped while he was under house arrest for his pro-student sympathies. He spent his last 16 years, up until his death in 2005, in seclusion.
Hong Kong and mainland China share a border, which hundreds of thousands of Chinese cross daily to work, study and exchange goods.
The book is being released in Hong Kong because the city isn’t subject to direct mainland rule under the “One Country, Two System” policy.