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China Cremates Deposed Leader Zhao Ziyang
2005-01-29
BEIJING - China cremated Zhao Ziyang on Saturday after a heavily guarded farewell ceremony and issued its first official obituary on the deposed Communist Party leader, accusing him of making ``serious mistakes'' during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.Thousands of mourners, many of them weeping, filed through a memorial hall at Beijing's Babaoshan Cemetery, the main burial site for revolutionary heroes. They stood in rows and bowed before Zhao's body, which lay on a bier without a coffin and was surrounded by evergreen leaves. He wore a blue, high-collared Chinese jacket and was covered in the Communist Party flag. ``People still feel very strongly about him,'' Shi Yijun, a family friend. Lu Tongjing, another attendee, said Zhao looked ``so pale.'' ``Even some policemen were crying,'' Lu said. Zhao died Jan. 17 at age 85. He helped to launch reforms in the 1980s as premier and then party leader under then-supreme leader Deng Xiaoping, opening China to the world and letting millions lift themselves out of poverty. Zhao spent his last 15 years under house arrest after being ousted for sympathizing with the Tiananmen Square protesters - an action that made him a symbol of democratic change. The government has said little about Zhao since his death, apparently in an attempt to avoid stirring up memories of the leader who helped to launch China's economic boom but later was accused of ``splitting the party.'' Following the memorial, the government issued the first official obituary for Zhao, praising him as an economic reformer even as it criticized him. The obituary released by the Xinhua News Agency was read on state television and was the first mention of Zhao's death by a Chinese broadcaster. ``During the political disturbance, which occurred in the spring and summer period of 1989, Comrade Zhao Ziyang made serious mistakes,'' Xinhua said, without elaborating. The conclusion of ``serious mistakes'' had been at the center of a dispute between family members and the government over how Zhao would be remembered. Relatives reportedly had rejected including a reference to mistakes in the official assessment of his life traditionally read during burial. A member of the party's ruling Standing Committee, Jia Qinglin, attended and expressed condolences on behalf of President Hu Jintao and other leaders, Xinhua said. Inside the hall, mourners walked around the body, bowing three times in line with Chinese tradition. A photo above it showed Zhao dressed casually in a blue denim shirt. Photos and filming were banned during the ceremony, which lasted about two hours. The walls were lined with funeral wreaths, including one from the office of the ruling party's Central Committee and another from Qiao Shi, a retired senior party figure. Zhao's children - four sons and a daughter - shook hands with passing mourners. The family also issued a card with an autographed photo of Zhao on the front and ``Thank you everyone'' written inside. Xinhua said Zhao's body was cremated after the ceremony. Dissidents - kept under tight watch - were barred from the event, whose timing was uncertain until two days before. Security was even more severe on Saturday, with about 10 miles of the main road leading up to the cemetary lined with hundreds of policemen and plainclothes officers at regular intervals. Only mourners on a government-approved guest list were allowed to attend the service, and security agents demanded identification at entrances to the cemetary. Reporters who had passes given out by Zhao's family were ordered to leave. It wasn't immediately clear where Zhao's final resting place would be. Relatives wanted his ashes interred in the section of the Babaoshan cemetery for state leaders, according to Lu. He said that if they weren't, the family planned to take them home. The government didn't tell the Chinese public of plans for the memorial service. A group of 10 people outside the cemetery gate carried a banner that said in Chinese ``Zhao Ziyang's spirit lives forever.'' Police dragged at least three of the people to a nearby subway stop, apparently hoping they would leave, but they were later allowed to return. One woman, who was in tears, wore a piece of cloth around her head that read: ``We miss you.'' ``His contributions have been great,'' said Shi, the family friend. ``Everyone is very grateful.'' AP
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