On the 16th anniversary of the death of former Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, family members paid their respects at the cemetery in Changping, Beijing, on Sunday morning (17), with official security guards closely monitoring their movements. The media and the public were chased away by security guards, who were not allowed to approach the memorial site on the grounds that they were “not allowed to gather during the epidemic”.
Radio Hong Kong reported that Zhao Ziyang’s daughter Wang Yannan and son-in-law Wang Zhihua and other people went to the cemetery “Tianshouyuan” in Changping, Beijing this morning to pay their respects to Zhao Ziyang. Around the cemetery, there are many people wearing “security patrol” red cloths on their arms, calling themselves “security guards” to closely monitor the family’s movements. The authorities only allow Zhao Ziyang’s family members to pay their respects, and no one else is allowed to enter the cemetery. Security personnel also in the cemetery around the parking lot to drive away vehicles, said the general public without a reservation can not park cars and enter the worship. A number of media came to cover the media were also driven away by security personnel, journalists are not allowed to enter the cemetery as visitors, the reason is “not to gather during the epidemic”.
RTHK reported that Zhao Ziyang’s former ministers, including former secretary Li Shuqiao, and former National Economic Reform Commission official Song Tingming, sent flowers to the tombstone, and the crowd bowed before taking photos. The report said that there were several surveillance cameras in front and behind the tombstone. The report said that the authorities are closely monitored, and the family is worried that accepting interviews with reporters will affect future arrangements for paying respects.
The report also mentioned that a group of Zhao Ziyang’s former friends and former ministers, including 97-year-old Du Guizheng, former president of Yanhuang Chunqiu, and Wang Yanjun, former deputy editor-in-chief, went to Zhao Ziyang’s former residence in Beijing on Saturday (16) to bow and lay flowers at the remains of Zhao and his wife. Du is writing on the memorial book “honestly follow the path of Deng Hu Zhao, other paths can not go”. There were also about 10 police officers stationed at the site, but they did not restrict visitors from entering, only confirming their identities and then letting them go.
After Zhao Ziyang’s death in 2005, his ashes were placed in his former residence at No. 6 Fuqiang Hutong in Beijing for a long time. After years of discussion between his family and the Chinese Communist Party, his ashes and those of his wife, Liang Boqi, were buried in the Tianshou Garden, a private cemetery in Beijing, on Zhao Ziyang’s 100th birthday in 2019.
During the June 4, 2020, the cemetery even set up ID card swipe devices outside the cemetery to strictly control access.
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