A "discreet" funeral and memorial service for the late Zhao Ziyang, the former Chinese prime minister and CPC general secretary, was held today in Beijing. Ever since the 85 year-old Zhao passed away January 17, there has been much interest in how the central government he once led would honor his public life and political career, both of which ended in great controversy in the late spring of 1989.
Comrade Zhao Ziyang, who passed away on Jan. 17 at the age of 85, was cremated at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in western Beijing Saturday morning.
On behalf of the leaders of the central authorities, Comrade Jia Qinglin and other senior officials including He Guoqiang, Wang Gang and Hua Jianmin, were at the cemetery to bid farewell to the remains of Comrade Zhao. They also expressed condolences to Zhao's families.
Zhao died of illness in a Beijing hospital after failing to respond to all emergency treatment.
Born in October 1919 in Huaxian County of central China's Henan Province, Comrade Zhao joined the Communist Youth League of China in March 1932 and started his revolutionary career in 1937. He joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in February 1938.
During the years of revolutionary wars and the period of socialist construction, Comrade Zhao successively served as the chief leader of the CPC committees at the county, prefectural and provincial levels. In the early years of China's reform and opening-up drive, he successively held important leading positions of the CPC Central Committee and the State, making contribution to the cause of the Party and the people. In the political turbulence which took place in the late spring and early summer of 1989, Comrade Zhao committed serious mistakes.
When Comrade Zhao suffered from illness and when his physical condition was turning worse, the central authorities had instructed relevant departments make proper arrangements for his life and treatment. A special medical team was formed to treat his diseases and save his life by every means. In the last days of Comrade Zhao, Comrade Zeng Qinghong had gone to the hospital to visit him on behalf of the leaders of the central authorities.
The General Office and the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the General Office of the State Council, the General Office of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and other departments sent wreaths to the cemetery. Comrade Zhao's families, close-by workers, old friends, representatives from his hometown and the places he once worked in, and representatives from various Party and government departments, also went to the cemetery to bid farewell to his remains.
BEIJING, China -- China has held a tightly controlled memorial for former Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang, who was ousted amid the upheaval surrounding the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
Hundreds of mourners filed through a memorial hall and bowed before Zhao's body at Beijing's Babaoshan Cemetery, the main burial site for revolutionary heroes, on Saturday, The Associated Press reported.
The body lay on a bier without a coffin, dressed in a blue, high-collared Chinese jacket and covered in the Communist Party flag.
Anxious to avoid stirring up memories that could spark protests, China's leaders have said little about 85-year-old Zhao since he died on January 17, and did not disclose plans for the memorial service.
The nation's state television on Saturday broadcast the first official obituary for Zhao, recognizing his contribution to reforms, but saying he made "serious mistakes" during the 1989 protests, according to news agencies.
The broadcast is likely to be the first time many Chinese have heard of his death because Zhao's passing kept under wraps. Xinhua only released a two-sentence report of his passing at the time he died.
Just after he died, Beijing warned "anti-government forces" against taking advantage of his death to stir up trouble for the administration. (Full story)
In Washington, House Minority Leader Nany Pelosi, joined a gathering of about 100 people from the Chinese community and human rights groups Saturday to honor Zhao.(Full story)
A standard-bearer for reform, Zhao opposed the use of force against the Tiananmen Square demonstrators. He was removed from his post during the clampdown and was kept under house arrest inside his closely guarded Beijing compound until his death.
He was rarely allowed to step out, except to play occasional rounds of golf. Even out of power in his twilight years, he remained a threat to the leaders who followed him.
There were no eulogies, possibly due to a dispute between the family and government over how Zhao would be remembered, AP reported.
China's number four leader, Jia Qinglin, attended Saturday's memorial and expressed condolences on behalf of President Hu Jintao and other leaders, Xinhua reported.
Mourners on a government-approved guest list were allowed to attend the service, with security agents demanding identification. Hundreds of police and security agents patrolled nearby streets.
Most Chinese will remember Zhao as a well-meaning, honest official, CNN's Beijing Bureau Chief Jaime Florcruz Florcruz said, but as someone who was not good at political maneuvering.
"He was a very pragmatic leader, and he was very successful in provincial level market reforms in the early years," said Tang Wenfang, a professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh.
In the late 1980s, when Zhao rose to become China's premier and later party chief, he stood out by pushing political reforms, but he clashed with conservative leaders as students gathered to agitate for freedom and democracy.
He was last seen in public in May 1989, when he visited hunger strikers at the square.
"We have come too late," he tearfully told the students.
But Zhao may have been too early for his time, political analysts say.
"Hard-line conservative leaders were not ready for market reform, and so there was a lot of ideological resistance to his initiatives, policy initiatives," Tang said.
Zhai Weimin, one of the leaders of the Tiananmen Square protests, said Zhao was "a daring and resolute reformer ... but he was not as good at political maneuvering as the other leaders were."
Very Discreetly, China Buries Zhao, Its Troublesome Ex-Leader
By JOSEPH KAHN
BEIJING, Saturday, Jan. 29 - Some 2,000 mourners and at least that many police officers turned out Saturday for a heavily restricted funeral service for Zhao Ziyang, as authorities took steps to ensure that the final commemoration of Mr. Zhao, the former leader, would not touch off anti-government protests.
Buffeted by icy winds under a bright winter sky, well-wishers from a list approved by party officials were escorted under guard through Babaoshan cemetery in western Beijing. Groups of mourners, five at a time, were shuffled through a reception hall where they viewed Mr. Zhao's body, covered to the neck by the party's red hammer-and-sickle flag, and paid respects to his daughter, sons and other relatives.
There was no eulogy, reflecting a standoff between the family and the authorities over how to honor the former prime minister and party chief. Mr. Zhao helped initiate China's economic reforms in the 1980's, but was purged for opposing the violent crackdown on democracy protesters in 1989.
The service took place under an official veil of silence, with no advance word in state-run media. Only mainland Chinese who registered their names were allowed to enter the cemetery, where many party leaders are buried.
Uniformed and plainclothes police lined the streets and prevented foreigners, journalists, unregistered visitors and petitioners from approaching, sometimes shoving people off the sidewalks to make sure no crowd gathered. Several people were detained.
After the service, the official New China News Agency issued a dispatch noting that Jia Qinglin, a member of the Politburo standing committee, and three other party and government leaders attended the service on behalf of the current leadership "to express condolences to his family."
The news agency also released a traditional "life assessment" of Mr. Zhao, which summarized his career. It struck a more balanced tone than previous official statements, which merely restated Mr. Zhao's political crimes.
"He made beneficial contributions to the party and the people," the assessment said, before adding, "In the political turmoil of the spring and summer of 1989, Comrade Zhao Ziyang committed grave errors."
It did not mention that Mr. Zhao was considered an architect of China's market-oriented economic policies, nor that he was purged and placed under house arrest.
Mr. Zhao became a symbol of defiance when he opposed the decision by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to use the army to crush protests in central Beijing in 1989.
Party leaders, many of whom owe their positions to decisions made after Mr. Zhao lost power, have long worried that his death could bring back memories of the Tiananmen massacre among democracy campaigners. They are also on high alert because of a surge in popular protests over widespread corruption, land confiscations and the country's growing wealth gap.
But intense security made any organized dissent unlikely. Writer, lawyers, teachers, former officials and others suspected by authorities of sympathizing with Mr. Zhao were kept under watch and denied permission to attend the funeral.
"The main fear is that there would be marches and slogans - things they can't control - so they've locked up all the liveliest activists and anybody who might speak out," said Hu Jia, who promotes rights of farmers and AIDS victims. "Zhao's fate symbolizes China's over the past 15 years: the economy has become more diverse, but the political system remains inert and lifeless."
Joseph Kahn also wrote an excellent analysis of the relevant issues surrounding Zhao's passing and relative memorializing in today's The New York Times which you should read. Particularly you should read it if you are under the impression that the CPC today is internally monolithic with but one point of view or political opinion wafting about, or that Zhao was a complete pariah, an anathema, to his peers--and the new leaders--throughout the past 15 years. I will excerpt only the opening graphs below:
BEIJING, Jan. 29 - Deng Xiaoping, China's late paramount leader, famously declared after he consolidated power in the early 1980's that his predecessor, Mao Zedong, was 70 percent good and 30 percent bad. With that numerical coda, the Communist Party closed a historical debate that had threatened to tear it apart.
Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Communist Party and China's top leader, assigned no precise ratio to assess his late predecessor, Zhao Ziyang. But Mr. Hu clearly struggled to find the right balance in managing the politically explosive death of Mr. Zhao, who was officially memorialized and cremated on Saturday.
The test of whether Mr. Hu succeeded may be less the event itself, conducted with martial discipline, than whether society and the Communist Party ultimately accept the verdict on Mr. Zhao, political analysts said.
Mr. Zhao, an architect of China's economic reforms in the 1980's, openly defied the party he once led when he opposed the use of force against democracy protesters in 1989. Although he was never charged with a crime, Mr. Zhao was purged and spent his remaining years under house arrest, becoming an unlikely hero for China's scattered opposition.
for former Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang, who was ousted amid the upheaval surrounding the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
officers turned out Saturday for a heavily restricted funeral service for Zhao Ziyang, as authorities took steps to ensure that the final commemoration of Mr. Zhao, the former leader, would not touch off anti-government protests.
