BEIJING – The Farewell Ceremony of Zhao Ziyang, the former general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party was held on Jan. 29 in Beijing. Some people who attended it said that though it was not held in high profile, their memory was awakened after seeing Zhao’s remains.
The scale of the ceremony was restricted

Some who attended the ceremony in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery were deeply grateful for being able to receive the obituary notice and to see Zhao, whom they venerated.

The Chinese authority said that Zhao held important leading positions of the CCP Central Committee and the state, making contributions to the cause of the Party and the people. However, they said, in the political turbulence that took place in the late spring and early summer of 1989, he committed serious mistakes. Under such background, the scale of his farewell ceremony was restricted.

Dai Qing: the scale of the ceremony is too far away from Zhao’s profile

Dai Qing, former journalist of CCP’s mouthpiece paper Guang Ming Daily, considered that Zhao had held leading positions of the CCP and the state, but the ceremony was too far from his identity and social status. Dai indicated that there was a main hall in the Babaoshan Public Cemetery, however only a small room at the south side was used for the ceremony. Further, the whole scene and scale were lowered. Zhao’s family had no choice but to accept the arrangement with no other alternatives.

Dai said: “According to Zhao Ziyang’s identity, first, he was the general secretary of the CCP Central Committee, so accordingly there should be a wreath from the CCP Central Committee, but there wasn’t. Then, he had held the position prime minister, so there should be a wreath from the State Council, but there wasn’t one. The first wreath put there was from The General Office of the CCP Central Committee, and the second one was from the Organization Department of the CCP Central Committee. So they expressed their attitude in such a scale by sending wreathes in the name of the organizations, and regarded that since Zhao was just an ordinary CCP member, they just memorialize him at that scale.”

Both the inside and outside of the cemetery were strictly monitored

On the day the ceremony was held, police officers and vans were surrounding both the cemetery and its nearby areas. One could not enter into the cemetery unless holding an obituary notice; one would be checked again at the entrance of the ceremony room. The security staff would check authentication of each attendee’s obituary notice.

Dai indicated that one was unable to express one’s grief under such strict monitoring both inside and outside of the ceremony room. “When I was waiting in the queue, a man took a photo. Four or five police officers rushed to him and exposed his film straight away. Taking photos was not allowed at all. Many people angrily said, ‘Why can’t we take photos?’ They simply disallowed it. How come? Then upon leaving the ceremony room, one was not allowed to stay, even for waiting for a friend who was still inside.”

Zhao died on Jan. 17 in Beijing at the age of 85. The contribution he had made in promoting the Chinese political and economic system reform in the 1980s and his refusal to suppress the public with the armed force in the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square incident left indelible memories for the people.