{{family name hatnote|[[Hu (surname)|Hu]]|lang=Chinese}} {{Contemporary Chinese political thought|liberalism}} '''Hu Jiwei''' (Chinese: 胡绩伟; August 1916 – September 16, 2012) was a Chinese [[journalist]] and a senior Chinese official who served as the president of the ''[[People's Daily]]'' (1982–1983) and previously its [[editor-in-chief]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Former head of People's Daily dies at 96 |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-09/27/content_15788707.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005182223/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-09/27/content_15788707.htm |archive-date=2012-10-05 |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=[[China Daily]]}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2012-09-18 |title=Former People's Daily chief editor Hu Jiwei sought Tiananmen vindication |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1039377/former-peoples-daily-chief-editor-hu-jiwei-sought-tiananmen-vindication |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325130812/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1039377/former-peoples-daily-chief-editor-hu-jiwei-sought-tiananmen-vindication |archive-date=2015-03-25 |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=[[South China Morning Post]] |language=en}}</ref>
As an influential [[Liberalism in China|liberal]] official, Hu was a long-time champion of [[freedom of the press]] and political reforms in China, calling "people's spirit should be above [[Chinese Communist Party|Party]] spirit (人民性高于党性)".<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-12 |title=Party Spirit |url=https://chinamediaproject.org/the_ccp_dictionary/party-spirit/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241004081111/https://chinamediaproject.org/the_ccp_dictionary/party-spirit/ |archive-date=2024-10-04 |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=China Media Project |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Hai |first=Tao |date=2013-09-17 |title=人民日报重炒马列 理论争执再起硝烟 |url=https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-daily-20130916/1750772.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423075114/https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-daily-20130916/1750772.html |archive-date=2024-04-23 |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=[[Voice of America]] |language=zh}}</ref> Hu also served as a vice director of the [[Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee|Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the National People's Congress]] between 1983 and 1989, but was purged from the central leadership after the [[Tiananmen Square Massacre]] in 1989.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
== Biography == [[File:Yanan Shaanxi maoist city IMG 8468.JPG|thumb|Hu Jiwei (rightmost position on the front row in the picture) attending a conference with [[Mao Zedong]] and others in [[Yan'an]] in 1940.|left]] Hu Jiwei was born in [[Zigong, Sichuan]] in August 1916 (some say September 1916<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Bao |first=Yujun |date=2012-10-08 |title=报人气概 |trans-title=The spirit of a journalist |url=https://magazine.caixin.com/2012-10-01/100443897.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011231643/https://magazine.caixin.com/2012-10-01/100443897.html |archive-date=2012-10-11 |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=[[Caixin]]}}</ref>).<ref name=":0" /> In 1935, Hu enrolled in [[West China Medical Center]], but transferred to [[Sichuan University]] in 1936, when he became an active member in a number of newspaper and magazines.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> Hu joined the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) in 1937, and in 1939, he travelled to [[Yan'an]] and subsequently worked for ''[[Jiefang Daily]]'' and [[Xinhua News Agency]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> After the [[founding of the People's Republic of China]], Hu became a deputy editor-in-chief of ''[[People's Daily]]'' in 1952, as an assistant to [[Deng Tuo]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Xu |first=Qingquan |date=2012-12-13 |title=报人胡绩伟 |trans-title=Journalist Hu Jiwei |url=https://www.aisixiang.com/data/59843.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503070845/https://www.aisixiang.com/data/59843.html |archive-date=2024-05-03 |website=Ai Sixiang (爱思想) |publisher=[[Caijing]] |language=zh}}</ref>
Hu was persecuted during the [[Cultural Revolution]] (1966–1976), and soon afterwards was appointed the [[editor-in-chief]] of the ''[[People's Daily]]'' in January 1977 and played an important role during the ''[[Boluan Fanzheng]]'' period.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> In the late 1970s, Hu Jiwei said that the "people's spirit" should be primary in doing journalism, meaning that the media should report truthfully because it represented the interests of the people. Hu Jiwei argued in 1979 that "party spirit" should be consistent with human nature media should be independent from the Party, saying the media should be "the eyes and ears of CCP" in order to report accurately on the actual situation in the country and listen to the people's voices. His position was endorsed by reformist leader [[Hu Yaobang]]. [[Hu Qiaomu]], in contrast, argued for the primacy of the "party spirit" in media and journalism.<ref name=":03">{{Cite web |date=2021-12-12 |title=Party Spirit |url=https://chinamediaproject.org/the_ccp_dictionary/party-spirit/ |access-date=2025-11-13 |website=China Media Project |language=en-US}}</ref>
Hu Jiwei worked as the newspaper's president between April 1982 and October 1983, under [[Hu Yaobang]], then [[General Secretary of the CCP]] and a leader of reformists within the CCP.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> However, Hu Jiwei was criticized for his liberal remarks by left-wing conservative figures within the CCP such as Hu Qiaomu, and was forced to resign as the president of ''People's Daily'' during the [[Campaign against spiritual pollution]] in 1983.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Iyer |first=Pico |date=1983-11-28 |title=China: Battling Spiritual Pollution |url=https://time.com/archive/6860258/china-battling-spiritual-pollution/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907234429/https://time.com/archive/6860258/china-battling-spiritual-pollution/ |archive-date=2024-09-07 |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref> Hu Qiaomu continued to argue Hu Jiwei's ideas continued to poison the media after his resignation as editor-in-chief in 1983. After the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]], Hu Qiaomu argued the failure to properly control the press "guided matters in the direction of chaos".<ref name=":03" />
From 1983 to 1989, Hu served as a vice director of the [[Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee|Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the National People's Congress]], as a member of the [[National People's Congress Standing Committee]], the top legislature in China.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> In the meantime, he tried to pass laws to protect free press in China, but did not succeed.<ref name=":1" /> After the [[Tiananmen Square Massacre]] in 1989, Hu was purged from the central leadership.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> However, Hu continued to support free press and called for political reforms in mainland China.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2010-10-13 |title=China must abandon censorship |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/oct/13/china-censorship-freedom-speech |access-date=2024-10-19 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kong |first=Anka Lee / Hong |date=2009-04-17 |title=Hong Kong Dissidents Get Organized As Tiananmen Anniversary Draws Near |url=https://time.com/archive/6946390/hong-kong-dissidents-get-organized-as-tiananmen-anniversary-draws-near/ |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref>
Hu died at the age of 96 in Beijing on September 16, 2012.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
== See also ==
* [[Wang Ruoshui]] * [[Reform and Opening]] * [[New Enlightenment (China)]]
== References == {{reflist|2}}
{{Second Council of the All-China Journalists Association B}} [[Category:1916 births]] [[Category:2012 deaths]] [[Category:Chinese communists]]