MNUSCRIPT OF ZHAO ZIYANG CONVERSATIONS LEAKED TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KOG 002054

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP AND EAP/CM
NS FOR DENNIS WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2031
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL HK CH
SUBJECT: MNUSCRIPT OF ZHAO ZIYANG CONVERSATIONS LEAKED TO
ONG KONG NEWSPAPERS

REF: 05 HONG KONG 03309

Classified By: E/P Chief Simon Schuchat. Reasons: 1.4(b,d).


1. (C) Summary: On May 15, Liu Baopu, the son of Zhao
Ziyang's aide Bao Tong, discussed with poloff the recent
controversy over a leaked manuscript about Zhao written by
Zong Fengming, Zhao's qigong meditation coach. Zong, 86,
recently complained to the media that portions of his
manuscript, based on conversations with Zhao between 1992 and
2004, had been leaked and published without his authorization
in two Hong Kong newspapers. A "former PRC provincial
governor" had "betrayed" Zong, by prematurely leaking it to
two Hong Kong newspapers, according to Liu, who said the
manuscript contained some interesting insights into Zhao but
did not offer any groundbreaking revelations. Zong confirmed
that detained journalist Ching Cheong had contacted him about
obtaining the rights to his book, but denied that his
manuscript was related to Ching's arrest. Publishers'
interest in the manuscript had been damaged by the leaks in
the Hong Kong media, concluded Liu. End Summary.

Author Complains about Leaked Manuscript
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2. (C) On May 15, Liu Baopu, the son of Zhao Ziyang's aide
Bao Tong, discussed with poloff the recent controversy over a
leaked manuscript of conversations with Zhao, written by Zong
Fengming, Zhao's childhood friend and qigong meditation
coach. Zong, an 86-year old former Communist Party official,
contacted the "Washington Post" and the "South China Morning
Post (SCMP)" in early May to complain that portions of his
manuscript, detailing his conversations with Zhao from
1992-2004, had been published without his authorization in
the "Hong Kong Economic Journal (HKEJ)" and "Ming Pao." Zong
claimed that a significant portion of the manuscript was
about the June 4 Tiananmen incident and that Zhao had
personally vetted the first draft of the book. Chan
King-cheung, Chief Editor of the HKEJ, reportedly responded
to Zong's allegations by saying, "we believe the content of
the manuscript is genuine" and that the newspaper was unaware
of Zong's role in the manuscript.


3. (C) Zong had provided earlier versions of the manuscript
to friends for their review, Liu said, and a "former PRC
provincial governor" had "betrayed" Zong by leaking it to the
two Hong Kong newspapers. Liu speculated that this was not
done out of greed, but that this individual wanted to share
Zhao's thoughts and naively allowed the Hong Kong newspapers
to serialize, abridge and publish them under pen names.
These snippets of Zong's manuscript lacked the impact that a
properly edited book could have had, complained Liu.

Sensitive Manuscript Interesting, Not Groundbreaking
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4. (C) Liu told poloff that he had read an early version of
the entire manuscript two years ago. Commenting on the book,
Liu said that Zong had accurately jotted down his
conversations with Zhao, but having never worked in the inner
circle of top PRC leaders, was unable to contextualize many
of Zhao's comments. The manuscript contained some
interesting insights into Zhao's thinking, said Liu, but did
not offer any groundbreaking revelations. Nevertheless, Liu
believed it was a "hot" manuscript and had shown it to
several prominent members of the U.S. human rights community
to gauge interest in the book. He had also heard that the
Central Government desperately wanted to prevent the
manuscript from being published. When asked if Beijing knew
Zong was the author, Liu said, "yes, but what are you going
to do to an old man?"


5. (C) Initially, Zhao's children tried to dissuade Zong from
publishing the manuscript, arguing that it went against
Zhao's wishes. Zhao's son-in-law purportedly witnessed a
heated discussion between the two friends in which Zhao told
Zong not to publish the manuscript, said Liu. However, after
Zhao's death last January, his family asked Bao Tong, Zhao's
trusted former aide, about the matter. Bao interpreted
Zhao's words to mean that he did not want the manuscript to
be published until after his death. Bao agreed to edit the
book, but Liu said that his father, who is under house
arrest, was never able to get a copy of the elusive
manuscript.

Ching Cheong
--------------



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