China may hold a scaled-down ceremony to mourn Zhao Ziyang, ousted as Communist Party chief in 1989 for sympathising with Tiananmen Square democracy protesters, the government and a source close to his family said on Thursday. The size and timing of the event were unclear, as was how widely it would be covered by the Xinhua news agency and other state media, which have played down his death for fear of sparking a popular outpouring of sentiment or even protests.
"In recent years, China has reformed rules governing funerals (for the country's leaders). Funerals have been simplified," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan told a news conference.
"No memorial services are held, only a ceremony to bid farewell to remains. As an old party member, Zhao Ziyang's funeral will be held in accordance with this," Kong said. "Relevant (party) departments will discuss his funeral with his family and handle accordingly."
State television and radio have ignored the death of the former premier and party chief, who pioneered the reforms that ensured China's transformation into a fledgling economic powerhouse only to be toppled in a power struggle.
Zhao, who died on Monday aged 85, was ousted for opposing a decision to use troops and tanks to clear Tiananmen Square of protesters on June 3-4, 1989. He spent the last 15 years of his life under house arrest in his Beijing courtyard home.
A source close to the family said Zhao would be laid to rest at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in western Beijing, exclusively reserved for senior party officials.
A ceremony to pay respects to his remains, one notch below a memorial service in Communist protocol, would be held, said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"He will be buried at Babaoshan. The time has not been decided," the source told Reuters.
The party abolished grandiose memorial services for leaders in the 1980s, but held one nevertheless for paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1997 at Beijing's Great Hall of the People with 10,000 people attending. Deng's ashes were scattered at sea.
In 1976, mourners lined a 5-km (3-mile) route to send off premier Zhou Enlai, followed by a memorial service in the Great Hall four days later. He was cremated and given a sea burial.
One million people attended a 1976 memorial service for party chairman Mao Zedong on Tiananmen Square after a Great Hall ceremony. Mao's embalmed body lies in a mausoleum on the square.
A source familiar with party protocol said the authorities were preparing a eulogy that would be read at the farewell ceremony only if the family agreed to its contents.
"It needs the approval of the family," said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.
It was unclear whether the family would agree to a government eulogy defending the army crackdown.
Kong, the ministry spokesman, declined to say if the government would issue an official assessment of Zhao's legacy.
A Babaoshan cemetery official said it had not been decided whether Zhao would be buried or cremated.
"A meeting is being held today," said the official, who declined to give his name.
Some leaders, including state president Li Xiannian and veteran economic planner Chen Yun, an influential member of the Politburo Standing Committee, were buried at Babaoshan. Others were cremated, their ashes placed in urns in memorial halls.
Sources said Zhao's family had chosen not to request a state funeral, which would have required flags to be flown at half mast on Tiananmen Square, at the secretive Zhongnanhai leadership compound and at foreign embassies in Beijing.
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