Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Family of China’s Zhao forgoes state funeral
BEIJING: The family of purged Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang has decided to forgo a state funeral, sparing China’s leaders a sensitive decision on whether to hold a high-profile ceremony that they fear could trigger protests. Zhao, toppled for opposing a military crackdown on protests for democracy on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, died at 85 in a Beijing hospital on Monday after suffering multiple strokes last week. Plainclothes police barred his former aide, Bao Tong, from paying his respects on Tuesday and tightened security around Tiananmen square and near Zhao’s courtyard home, where the ousted leader lived under house arrest for 15 years.
reuters
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