Late leader Jiang's ashes scattered in sea

The ashes of Comrade Jiang Zemin, who passed away in Shanghai on Nov 30 at the age of 96, were scattered in the sea at the estuary of the Yangtze River on Sunday, in accordance with the wishes of Jiang and his family.

Jiang was an outstanding leader enjoying high prestige acknowledged by the whole Communist Party of China, the entire military and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups. His remains were cremated on Dec 5 in Beijing, followed by a grand memorial meeting the next day to mourn and pay respect to him.

Entrusted by the CPC Central Committee, Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and Jiang's widow, Wang Yeping, and other relatives escorted Jiang's ashes for the ashes-scattering ritual.

Earlier in the morning, Jiang's ashes were carried by a hearse from Zhongnanhai, the central headquarters of the CPC and the State Council, where Jiang had worked as a Party and State leader, to Xijiao Airport in Beijing. Jiang's ashes were later flown by a special plane to Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport, where his ashes were transferred by a hearse to the military vessel CNS Yangzhou at a military port. Yangzhou, Jiang's hometown, is a city in Jiangsu province.

At 12:35 pm, Cai joined Jiang's widow and other family members in scattering Jiang's ashes in the waves, along with flower petals, from aboard the military vessel.

Jiang was hailed as a great Marxist and a great proletarian revolutionary, statesman, military strategist and diplomat.

He was the core of the third generation of the Party's central collective leadership and the principal founder of the Theory of Three Represents, which defines the role of the Party and stresses that the Party must always represent the requirements for developing China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.