Family holds memorial for deposed Chinese leader
Family and friends of deposed Chinese Communist Party leader Zhao Ziyang gathered today to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his death.
Authorities kept a close watch on dissidents seeking to further his legacy of political openness.
Visitors streamed into Zhao’s Beijing home, where he spent the last 15 years under house arrest after being purged from his position for sympathising with pro-democracy protesters in 1989.
Many wore white flowers, a Chinese symbol of mourning, and candles were lit in remembrance, said Wang Zhihua, Zhao’s son-in-law.
“We are missing him and thinking of him,” Wang said.
A few hundred visitors had paid their respects over the past week, Wang said, but there had been no acknowledgement from party officials of the anniversary.
Large numbers of police and security forces had been stationed around the traditional courtyard house, located in a quiet lane just off a main shopping street. Zhao’s ashes are kept in the house, which continued to be used by his family following his death last year at the age of 85.
Hu Jia, an Aids activist, said he had been under virtual house arrest since January 8, a common way for authorities to restrict the activities of dissidents during sensitive periods.
Authorities have been escorting him to and from work, allowing him little freedom to do much else, Hu said.
“In my office today, I faced east, where Zhao Ziyang’s home is, and bowed three times to pay my respects to him,” he said.
According to Hu, a friend visiting Zhao’s home saw up to five busloads of people being taken away for questioning.
As premier and then party leader in the 1980s, Zhao spearheaded reforms under then-supreme leader Deng Xiaoping, which threw open China’s doors to the world and helped millions climb out of dire poverty.
But since 1989, his name has been rarely acknowledged by the government, which is still wary of stirring up sympathy for his liberal views.
After his death, a brief official obituary highlighted his role as an economic reformer, but criticised him for making “serious mistakes” during the 1989 protests centred on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
Hundreds, if not thousands, died in the military crackdown on protesters but Chinese leaders frequently cite the country’s economic success to imply that it was justified because it ensured political stability.
