Tiananmen movement supporter dies at 90

Chinese dissident Bao Tong, a top Communist Party official imprisoned in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown who became a vocal critic of Beijing, has died at 90 years old, his son says on Twitter.

"My father died peacefully at 7.08am on November 9," Bao Pu announced.

A former member of the Communist Party's powerful Central Committee, Bao Tong served as political secretary to reformist premier - and subsequent party general secretary - Zhao Ziyang.

Zhao clashed with hardline colleagues over his sympathy for the student movement - which called for democratic reforms and an end to corruption - eventually leading to his dismissal and house arrest.

Bao was also detained much of the past three decades over his support for the movement, serving seven years in prison before being released and placed under house arrest.

But his detention did not prevent his becoming a vehement critic of the government in articles he penned and comments to the foreign press.

He also notably fought for the official rehabilitation of Zhao until his death in 2005.

Convinced that China has taken the wrong path after the events of Tiananmen, he signed the "Charter 08" manifesto, a widely circulated online petition that called for the political reform of the one-party system and the protection of basic human rights.

The manifesto was signed by more than 10,000 people.

Bao later became an outspoken critic of Chinese President Xi Jinping - the country's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong - speaking out against his drive against corruption.

"Our system is run on corruption," Bao said in 2013. "If I beat 10 tigers, 100 more will come out. If I hit 100 flies, 1,000 come out.

"Why do they want political power? They want it in order to be corrupt."