Editing Zhao Ziyang (section)

===Push for rehabilitation===
After Zhao's death, there were a number of calls in the PRC and abroad urging the PRC to reconsider Zhao's role in history. Within mainland China, these calls were largely led by Zhao's former secretary, Bao Tong. Outside of mainland China, Zhao's death produced calls from the governments of [[Taiwan]] and Japan urging the PRC to move toward granting the greater political freedoms that Zhao promoted.<ref name="BBC2" /> The Japanese prime minister, [[Junichiro Koizumi]], said as part of a statement on Zhao's death: "I want them to make efforts for democratization". A representative of the ROC cabinet, [[Chen Chi-mai]], stated that Beijing should "face the truth about Tiananmen Square" and "push for democratic reforms".<ref name="NYT2">Kahn, Joseph. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/18/international/asia/18zhao.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1106061353-5vJmmxfO0VVpckF9vW1h9g "China Gives Zhao's Death Scant Notice"]. ''The New York Times''. 18 January 2005. Retrieved 18 January 2005.</ref> The [[White House]] praised Zhao, saying that Zhao "was a man of moral courage who suffered great personal sacrifices for standing by his convictions during difficult times."<ref>Reuters and The Chicago Tribune. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002154347_zhao19.html "Mourners pay respects to ousted Chinese leader"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107230417/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002154347_zhao19.html |date=7 January 2009 }}.  ''The Seattle Times''. 19 January 2005. Retrieved 20 September 2011.</ref>

Although some of his followers have occasionally attempted to push for Zhao's formal rehabilitation since Zhao's arrest, the Party has been largely successful in removing his name from most public records available in China.<ref name="independent" /> Government efforts to delete Zhao's memory from public consciousness include airbrushing his picture from photographs released in China, deleting his name from textbooks, and forbidding the media from mentioning him in any way.<ref>Pan, Philip P. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110715024511/http://www.outofmaosshadow.com/excerpt/ "Chapter One: The Public Funeral"]}}.  ''Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China''. 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2011.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-46901248|title=A reformer China's ruling party wants to forget|last=Long|first=Kathy|date=17 January 2019|work=BBC News|access-date=18 January 2019|language=en-GB}}</ref> These efforts expanded to Chinese [[online encyclopedia]] [[Baidu Baike]], which did not have an entry for Zhao. This lasted until February 2012, when the page was unblocked for unknown reasons; according to ''[[World Journal]],'' the page received over 2 million visits in a day, before it was blocked again.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bandurski|first=David|date=1 March 2012|title="Zhao Ziyang" unblocked on Baidu|url=https://chinamediaproject.org/2012/03/01/zhao-ziyang-unblocked-on-baidu/|access-date=25 July 2021|website=China Media Project|language=en-US}}</ref> However, as of December 2019 both major crowdsourced encyclopedias subject to government censorship in mainland China contain articles about the life of Zhao, omitting references to the activities surrounding his dismissal from the party and subsequent house arrest.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Since 1989, one of the few publications that has printed a non-government-approved memorial praising Zhao's legacy has been ''[[Yanhuang Chunqiu]]'', a magazine which released a pro-Zhao article in July 2010. The article was written by Zhao's former aide, [[Yang Rudai]].<ref>Reuters. [http://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/zhao-ziyang/ "China Magazine Praises Ousted Zhao in Test of Taboo"].  ''China Digital Times''. 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2011.</ref>