Former premier Zhu Rongji passed away in Beijing on Wednesday. He was 98. Zhu, who had served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 14th and 15th Central Committees of the Communist Party of China, died of illness, according to an official obituary. The obituary was jointly issued by the CPC Central Committee; the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature; the State Council, China's Cabinet; and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body. It extolled Zhu as an excellent Party member, a time-tested and loyal communist fighter, and an outstanding proletarian revolutionist, statesman and leader of the Party and the State. Born in October 1928 in Changsha, Hunan province, Zhu joined revolutionary work in December 1948 and became a CPC member in October 1949. Between 1987 and 1991, he served successively as deputy secretary of the CPC Sha...