Seven days have passed since Zhao Ziyang’s death on January 17. The Chinese authority is in a stalemate concerning Zhao’s funeral arrangements. According to Zhao’s daughter Wang Yannan, the family disagrees with the authority on the key issue of the evaluation of Zhao Ziyang’s conduct during the 1989 student movement.

According to the BBC’s report today on its Chinese language website, the negotiation between the authority and Zhao Ziyang’s family has yielded no results, and arrangements for Zhao’s farewell ceremony have not been made. The authority insists on the assessment in the eulogy that Zhao made “serious mistakes” during the 1989 Tiananmen event, but the family disagrees. Both parties appear not willing to give up their stands. Analysts believe that Zhao’s funeral plan will continue to be postponed.

The BBC report quoted the reaction of Dai Qing, a renowned Chinese writer. Dai urged the Chinese government not to mix politics with humanity on the issue of Zhao’s funeral. She observes that the authority is clearly under great pressure from within the Party. Dai supports the stance of Zhao’s family. “If it were me, I would do the same. It is right to seek justice—this is the last chance.”

Dai Qing indicated it is clear to all current Chinese party leaders that Zhao Ziyang did not violate any principles of the party constitution or the country’s legislation. But retired party head Jiang Zemin will not agree to redress Zhao Ziyang, thus the new generation of leaders including Wen Jiabao will have no other choice.

Other than the evaluation of Zhao Ziyang, the other point of disagreement between Zhao’s family and the authority is where to place Zhao’s ashes. According to the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy, the authority does not want to allow Zhao’s ashes to be placed in the first room of Babaoshan Public Cemetery, where other senior party officials reside after passing.

The Information Center quoted the officials at the Baobashan Public Cemetery as revealing that they were instructed to reserve the funeral hall before January 31st in case it will be used.