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| | Guardian Unlimited | Obituaries | Zhao Ziyang |
 | | Zhao was the son of a small landlord of Huaxian county in the northern province of Henan, not far from the origins of China's first imperial dynasty, the Shang, 3,000 years ago. |
 | | Zhao was soon grappling with land reform, the basis of the Communist party's success and yet, when later pushed too far and too fast, the main cause of its setbacks and divisions. |
 | | Zhao, a centrist by nature all his political life, was about to demonstrate in his downfall that, at times of crisis, the centre cannot hold. |
| www.guardian.co.uk /obituaries/story/0,3604,1392541,00.html (1732 words) |
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