Jiang, 96, was among the very few leaders who held top positions including general secretary of the Communist Party, chairman of the Central Military Commission, and president of China. His death was announced in a letter addressing the whole Party, the entire military and the Chinese people
China is a nation of 1.4 billion people, ruled by an authoritarian government unable to abide dissent. China has 106 cities possessing populations more than one million, so a few hundred, or even a thousand, people gathering on a street does not yet constitute "mass" protests.