Overview

Jiang Zemin was born on August 17, 1926 in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. He was the third supreme leader of the People's Republic of China, and served as Mayor of Shanghai, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, and President of the People's Republic of China. He was the boss of the Shanghai faction in the party, and under his influence, the Shanghai faction greatly expanded its influence.

During his term of office, from November 9, 1989 to November 15, 2002, the People's Republic of China achieved large-scale economic development. The series of policies known as the Reform and Opening Up Policy, which introduced a capitalist economy while maintaining the communist system, expanded China's influence not only in the economic sphere but also in the international community. On the other hand, there are also commentators who criticize the introduction of such a free economy as being pro-American.

His relationship with Japan is often considered anti-Japanese. His anti-Japanese policies were seen as an expression of nationalism linked to a sense of great power. For this reason, he is hated like a lizard by conservative forces in Japan, and the misreporting of his death by the Sankei Shimbun in 2011 was probably influenced by this context.

On the Chinese Internet, the words toad and "rich man" are used as slang for Jiang, and Chinese users have posted works on Pixiv that use toads as a motif or are titled "rich man."