The death of former president Jiang Zemin has set off a wave of nostalgia and pining for a bygone era in some quarters of Chinese society. Coming as it is at a time of public fury over China’s draconian zero-Covid-19 policy there has been speculation that the commemoration of his passing will somehow merge with and spur more protests against the current leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

But that is fantasy. A more nuanced reading shows that although China prospered under Mr Jiang’s rule and that he was also able to repair ties with Washington following the Tiananmen incident, his time at the helm left a legacy that is more complex than appearance suggests.