More than 100 mourners gathered on Saturday at the Beijing home of Zhao Ziyang, the Chinese Communist party chief ousted in 1989 for opposing a military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death.
Groups of mourners shuffled into Zhao’s courtyard home, which was crammed with wreaths. Saturday’s memorial attracted more than in previous years as 10-year anniversaries are considered particularly significant in China.
The ruling Chinese Communist Party has stamped out the legacy of the man who pleaded with students to leave Tiananmen Square before the violent crackdown on June 4, 1989, but was also instrumental in initiating economic reforms.
Police tried to block foreign journalists from entering Zhao’s home, where he spent more than 15 years under house arrest before his death.
Zhao’s ashes remain at his home because the family and the authorities cannot reach agreement on a final resting place, a source close to the family told Reuters.
“He has no cemetery and no tombstone, but in the hearts of Chinese people he is a monument,” Wu Wei, a former Chinese official, said at Zhao’s home.
Bao Tong, Zhao’s former aide, said his boss “would go to factories and villages” and ask them whether they had any problems.
“He focused on these problems, not on how you can help develop Marxism,” Mr. Bao told Reuters earlier this month.
As a sign of the unease surrounding Zhao’s commemoration, a private symposium on Zhao’s death planned for this week in Beijing was cancelled after its organiser was pressured by authorities, according to Wang Debang, a Beijing-based writer.
