Former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao pays tribute to late mother who 'taught me not to take what isn't mine' | South China Morning Post

Former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has published a personal reminiscence about his late mother, saying she taught him to live an honest, thrifty life. Whereas personal memoirs are commonplace among Western politicians, it is unusual for a retired Chinese leader to publish such a personal account because the state maintains rigid controls over all narratives relating to state affairs. In an article originally published in a newspaper in Macau , Wen presented both his mother and himself as people tested by hardship and uncorrupted by power. Wen, 78, wrote that his mother, Yang Zhiyun, who passed away in her late…