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Zhao Ziyang: Purged Chinese Communist reformer is buried | Zhao Ziyang: Purged Chinese Communist reformer is buried |
(32 minutes later) | |
The ashes of reformist Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang, purged for opposing using force to suppress student protests in 1989, have been buried in Beijing. | The ashes of reformist Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang, purged for opposing using force to suppress student protests in 1989, have been buried in Beijing. |
The remains of Mr Zhao, who died in 2005, were interred along with those of his wife in a quiet ceremony. | The remains of Mr Zhao, who died in 2005, were interred along with those of his wife in a quiet ceremony. |
Mr Zhao, general secretary of the Communist Party, was ousted in 1989 and lived under house arrest until he died. | Mr Zhao, general secretary of the Communist Party, was ousted in 1989 and lived under house arrest until he died. |
The crackdown authorised by officials killed hundreds, and has been excised from Chinese history books. | The crackdown authorised by officials killed hundreds, and has been excised from Chinese history books. |
Negotiations about what to do with the ashes of a man the authorities have also tried to write out of history have gone on for years. | Negotiations about what to do with the ashes of a man the authorities have also tried to write out of history have gone on for years. |
Only close family were allowed the attend the burial in Chaoping in Beijing's northern outskirts. | |
"Today we are burying our parents with family ceremonies. The small ceremony is held in the atmosphere of family peace," Mr Zhao's daughter Wang Yannan told BBC Chinese. | |
Zhao Ziyang was promoted by China's former supreme leader, Deng Xiaoping, who was looking for someone to reform the economy and open up the country to the outside world. | Zhao Ziyang was promoted by China's former supreme leader, Deng Xiaoping, who was looking for someone to reform the economy and open up the country to the outside world. |
His position seemed assured when he was made general secretary of the ruling Communist Party in 1987. | His position seemed assured when he was made general secretary of the ruling Communist Party in 1987. |
But the protests by students and residents in Beijing - and elsewhere across China - two years later revealed deep divisions within the party leadership. | But the protests by students and residents in Beijing - and elsewhere across China - two years later revealed deep divisions within the party leadership. |
Hundreds of thousands called for democratic reforms in a peaceful demonstration largely focused on a gathering in Tiananmen Square. | |
Mr Zhao, who had a more liberal attitude than other leaders, favoured a conciliatory approach towards the protesters. | |
That view eventually lost to those who wanted to bring in the army, and Mr Deng approved the detention of his former favourite. | That view eventually lost to those who wanted to bring in the army, and Mr Deng approved the detention of his former favourite. |