Grapevine

By PAUL GRAY/

BUT HAS HE WATCHED REDS? Remember Zhao Ziyang, former general secretary of China's Communist Party? He was last seen in public on May 19, 1989, during a tearful meeting with student hunger strikers in Tiananmen Square. Then came the crackdown and Zhao's expulsion from the party. Friends now report that Zhao is at peace with his current situation. Small wonder. He may have lost his chauffeured Mercedes 500, but he still has a staff of five aides and an assigned Nissan that comes with, yes, a mini-bar. Zhao seldom leaves his house, spending most of his days reading and watching videotapes. One acquaintance quotes the ex-leader: "I didn't realize so many good movies existed."

With reporting by DAVID ELLIS