Hundreds attend Zhao funeral
31 January 2005
Hundreds of mourners attended the tightly-controlled funeral for former Communist Party leader Zhao Ziyang at Beijing's Babaoshan cemetary. The "body farewell ceremony" was considerably less lavish than previous funerals for other senior Chinese dignitaries, but nonetheless a nod to Zhang's former status. Zhao had not been seen in public since the 1989 Tiananmen protests, when he was accused of sympathizing with the protestors, evicted from his post and placed under house arrest. Following the ceremony, the government issued its first formal comment on Zhao in more than 15 years, saying he had made "serious mistakes" in his handling of the protests.