Ex-party chief's last rites will be held tomorrow
As many as 1,000 mourners are expected to bid farewell to former Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang at a low-key funeral at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery tomorrow.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan declined to confirm the funeral date yesterday but an invitation sent to relatives and friends said it would be held at the cemetery tomorrow morning.
Sources said the date was decided after days of bickering between the family and the authorities over the status of the funeral and the content of a brief summary of Zhao's life story to be issued by Xinhua afterwards.
They said the authorities had agreed to the family's demand that mourners who had visited Zhao's home to pay their respects to the purged party chief over the past two weeks be allowed to attend the funeral.
No eulogy is expected to be delivered and Xinhua's summary of Zhao's career is likely to omit any reference to the 1989 student movement.
Invitation cards sent to relatives and friends yesterday referred to Zhao as a comrade - the same reference used by Xinhua in reporting his death.