BEIJING, Jan 29 (AFP) - Former Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang was cremated during a tightly controlled funeral Saturday as Beijing signalled it had no intention of changing its stance on the reformist leader purged for opposing the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
"Comrade Zhao Ziyang, who passed away on January 17 at the age of 85, was cremated at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in western Beijing Saturday morning," the official Xinhua news agency said in a brief dispatch.
The cremation followed a nearly three-hour funeral attended by an estimated 2,000 people, with hundreds of plainclothes police and government workers keeping a tight watch on proceedings.
Shortly afterwards, China indicated it had no plans to change its assessment of Zhao, who was under house arrest for the past 15 years after showing sympathy in 1989 to student demonstrators, later crushed in a military crackdown that killed hundreds and perhaps thousands.
"During the early period of reform and opening, Comrade Zhao Ziyang ... made useful contributions towards the party and the people," Xinhua said.
But it reiterated: "In the political turbulence during the Spring and Summer of 1989, Comrade Zhao Ziyang made a grave mistake."
State television briefly mentioned the cremation, marking the first time his death had been announced on TV and the first time Zhao's name was mentioned on television since 1989.
The funeral was entirely controlled by the government, said witnesses, including Zhao's nephew, who declined to be named.
"People were only allowed to go in, take a bow and come out," the nephew told AFP.
"Guests could not even bring their own flowers. They had to use wreaths brought there by the government and they could not even write their own inscriptions on wreaths."
Instead the phrases were fixed by the government, including: "Commemorating Zhao Ziyang with a heavy heart," he said.
The family, dressed in traditional Chinese mourning clothes, were overcome with grief and wept.
"There was an air of deep sadness. A lot of the mourners were crying. Zhao's body was placed in the middle. People just walked around it and had to leave," said Wang Zhiwei, one of Zhao's former secretaries.
"The body was draped with a Communist Party flag. He looked thin. The hair was white," he said.
Police ringed the cemetery, stopping vehicles, demanding to see identification documents and ordering journalists to leave, even those who had passes to enter.
The government had sought to keep the ceremony low-key to avoid it being a rallying point for those dissatisfied with the ruling Communist Party.
The popular reformist leader, who was prime minister and head of the Communist Party for much of the 1980s, was respected by many for his courage to stand up for student demonstrators. He died aged 85 in a Beijing hospital on January 17.
The funeral was delayed by a dispute between family members and the government over his official legacy, the guest list and where his ashes should be placed.
Zhao's family had strongly objected to the words "grave mistake" being included in an official summary of his life, which is issued following the death of a Chinese leader.
"We basically have no rights to say how the funeral will be held. It's completely an official ceremony," Zhao's daughter Wang Yannan told AFP on the eve of the funeral, expressing frustration.
"We will never agree with their arrangements and conclusions. I agreed to have the funeral on this date only because of our feelings for our father. We wanted him to be put to rest as soon as possible."
The nephew said Wang felt the same way after attending the funeral Saturday.
"Absolutely! This whole thing is organized by the officials," he said.
Jia Qinglin, the number four in the Chinese Communist Party, represented the Chinese government in expressing condolences at the funeral, Xinhua said.
Other guests included Tian Jiyun, the former vice premier who sided with Zhao, and the children of many former revolutionaries and leaders.
Few people knew about Zhao's death, but a group of about 30 elderly protesters wearing headbands with the words "Mourning for Ziyang" called on the government to respect human rights outside the funeral site Saturday.
It was still unclear where Zhao's ashes would be placed.
01/29/2005 06:33 GMT - AFP