Zhao Ziyang in Beijing in 1987. Photograph: John Giannini/AFP/Getty
They kept him under house arrest for more than 15 years for sympathising with the Tiananmen Square protesters of 1989. Now, even after he has died, Chinese authorities are trying to stifle recognition of Zhao Zihang, the Communist leader they purged.
Chinese internet chatroom monitors have been accused of censoring any outpouring of grief for Zhao, who died yesterday, by quickly deleting internet tributes.
With the government apparently keen for Zhao's passing to go unnoticed - Chinese broadcasters and newspapers are almost totally ignoring his death - many have been looking to the internet for news and to post messages.
But Geoffrey York, writing in Canada's Globe and Mail, says that while many have posted condolences on prominent Chinese websites, some expressing anger, they are all "deleted within a few minutes or seconds".
York reports one posting saying "the sun of Zhao Ziyang will not set". The BBC reports another asking "why can't we mourn a person's passing?".
York mentions the People's Daily website, where he says messages were deleted. A look at its forum section this morning shows neither any sign of Zhao tributes, nor any prominent stories in the news section.
Good blog postings in English appear to be restricted to westerners who are either living in China or Hong Kong, or used to do so, such as former CNN correspondent Rebecca MacKinnon.
On her blog, MacKinnon says Zhao's ultimate legacy will be that China will ultimately become more participatory, "maybe even ... enough to be called democratic some day". What gives her hope is that today in China the words "democracy", "rule of law" and "rights" are "used constantly by all kinds of people - including officials - as things that Chinese people ought to have".
Elsewhere, a posting from November on the Pekingduck blog, reccomends a review of The Era of Zhao Ziyang: Power Struggle in China, 1986-1988.
