Editing Zhao Ziyang (section)

==Death==
In February 2004, Zhao had a [[pneumonia]] attack that led to a [[Respiratory failure|pulmonary failure]], hospitalizing him for three weeks. Zhao was hospitalized again with pneumonia on 5 December 2004. Reports of his death were officially denied in early January 2005. Later, on 15 January, he was reported to be in a coma after multiple [[stroke]]s. According to Xinhua, Vice President [[Zeng Qinghong]], representing the party's central leadership, visited Zhao in hospital.<ref name="news.xinhuanet.com">{{cite news|date=29 January 2005|title=|script-title=zh:赵紫阳同志遗体在京火化 贾庆林等为遗体送别|language=zh|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|url=http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2005-01-29/11245707384.shtml|access-date=21 March 2017|via=Sina News}}</ref> Zhao died on 17 January in a Beijing hospital at 07:01, at the age of 85. He was survived by his second wife, Liang Boqi, and five children (a daughter and four sons).<ref name="Newrop" />

=== Government and domestic response ===
After Zhao's death, China's leaders feared an episode of civil disturbance similar to the events that followed the death of Hu Yaobang.<ref name="StudentMemory">{{Cite news|last=Yardley|first=Jim|date=22 January 2005|title=For Beijing Students Now, Protests Aren't Even a Memory|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/22/world/asia/for-beijing-students-now-protests-arent-even-a-memory.html|access-date=15 July 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In order to manage the news of Zhao's death, the Chinese government created an "Emergency Response Leadership Small Group", which declared "a period of extreme sensitivity", and placed the [[People's Armed Police]] on special alert. In order to prevent any mass demonstrations in the capital, the Emergency Group directed the [[Ministry of Railways (China)|Ministry of Railways]] to screen travellers headed to Beijing.<ref name="Link">{{Cite news|last=Link|first=Perry|date=17 May 2009|title=Book Review: 'Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Zhao Ziyang'|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/13/AR2009051302392.html|access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> In order to prevent any public commemoration of Zhao, Chinese authorities increased security in Tiananmen Square and at Zhao's house.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Watts|first=Jonathan|date=22 January 2005|title=In mourning for leader the party wants to forget|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/22/china.jonathanwatts|access-date=5 July 2021|website=[[The Guardian]]|language=en}}</ref><ref name="BBC2">{{Cite news|date=18 January 2005|title=Chinese media muted on Zhao death|work=[[BBC News]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4183101.stm|access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> Security was also increased at universities in Beijing, with faculty members being told to monitor their students to prevent demonstrations. At the time, most university students that were interviewed by ''The'' ''New York Times'' knew very little about Zhao, which was linked to government censorship and restrictions on political speech.<ref name="StudentMemory" />

The Chinese government also successfully directed China's domestic TV and radio stations not to broadcast the news. The very few that were granted permission to report the story were told to refer to him only as "comrade" without mentioning his past leadership posts.{{Sfn|Pan|2008|p=4–5}}

Under the headline "Comrade Zhao Ziyang has Passed Away", Zhao's official obituary stated, "Comrade Zhao had long suffered from multiple diseases affecting his respiratory and cardiovascular systems, and had been hospitalized for medical treatment several times. His conditions worsened recently, and he passed away Monday after failing to respond to all emergency treatment." All Chinese newspapers carried exactly the same 59-word obituary on the day following his death, leaving the main means of mass dissemination through the Internet.<ref>[http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20050918_1.htm Chinese Bloggers, Podcasters and Webcasters], EastSouthWestNorth, 18 September 2005</ref> Chinese [[Internet forum]]s, including the [[Strong Nation Forum]] and forums hosted by [[SINA.com]], Xinhua, and the ''People's Daily'',<ref name="BBC3" /> were flooded with messages expressing condolences for Zhao: "Time will vindicate him", wrote one commenter; "We will miss you forever" wrote another. These messages were promptly deleted by moderators,<ref name="BBC2" /> leading to more postings attacking the moderators for their actions.<ref name="BBC3" /> The Chinese government was successful in keeping Zhao's death fairly muted within mainland China. Open, public response was absent, though some online commenters stated that they planned to buy wreaths to mourn his death, or had stood in three minutes of silence to honour Zhao's memory.<ref name="BBC3">{{Cite news|date=17 January 2005|title=Online tributes to Zhao Ziyang|work=[[BBC News]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4181811.stm|access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref>

In Hong Kong, 10,000–15,000 people attended a candlelight vigil in remembrance of Zhao, organized by the [[Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=21 January 2005|title=Hong Kong holds vigil for Zhao Ziyang|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6853211|access-date=15 July 2021|website=NBC News|language=en}}</ref> <!-- UNSOURCED, DO NOT REINTRODUCE WITHOUT SOURCES Mainlanders such as Chen Juoyi said that it was illegal for Hong Kong legislators to join any farewell ceremony, stating "...under the 'one country, two systems' a Hong Kong legislator cannot care anything about mainland China." The statement caused a political storm in Hong Kong that continued for three days after his speech. Szeto Wah, the chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, said that it was not right for the Communists to suppress the memorial ceremony. The twenty-four pan-democrat legislators went against the President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong Rita Fan, who insisted that security be tightened at Tiananmen Square and at Zhao's house, and that the authorities try to prevent any public displays of grief. -->

=== International response ===
Similar memorials were held around the world, notably in New York City and Washington, DC where American government officials and exiled political dissidents attended.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}

In New York City, a public memorial for Zhao was organized by [[Human Rights in China (organization)|Human Rights in China]], a New York-based non-governmental organization. The event was held on 20 January 2005, in the basement of the Sheraton Hotel in [[Flushing, Queens]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=19 January 2005|title=New York Memorial Service for Zhao Ziyang {{!}} Human Rights in China 中国人权 {{!}} HRIC|url=https://www.hrichina.org/en/content/1489|access-date=18 July 2021|website=www.hrichina.org}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> It was announced through the local Chinese-language press and over the Internet, which, according to the ''New York Times'', attracted a "standing-room-only crowd". Most of the speakers at the memorial were exiled Chinese dissidents and intellectuals, including [[Yan Jiaqi]], who was Zhao's former advisor. [[John Liu]], then a [[New York City Council]]lor from Queens, also attended, making a speech in English.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|last=Chen|first=David W.|date=23 January 2005|title=From Half a World Away, Honoring a Chinese Leader|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/23/nyregion/from-half-a-world-away-honoring-a-chinese-leader.html|access-date=15 July 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== Funeral and burial ===
[[File:趙紫陽夫婦墓碑 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Zhao Ziyang's final burial site in 2019, with his son {{Interlanguage link|Zhao Erjun|lt=|zh|赵二军}} on the right.]]
On 29 January 2005, the government held a funeral ceremony for him at the [[Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery]], a place reserved for revolutionary heroes and high government officials, that was attended by some 2,000 mourners, who were pre-approved to attend. Several dissidents, including Zhao's secretary Bao Tong and [[Tiananmen Mothers]] leader [[Ding Zilin]], were kept under house arrest and therefore could not attend. Xinhua reported that the most senior official to attend the funeral was [[Jia Qinglin]], fourth in the party hierarchy, and other officials who attended included [[He Guoqiang]], [[Wang Gang (politician)|Wang Gang]] and [[Hua Jianmin]].<ref name="news.xinhuanet.com"/> Mourners were forbidden to bring flowers or to inscribe their own messages on the government-issued flowers. There was no eulogy at the ceremony because the government and Zhao's family could not agree on its content: while the government wanted to say he made mistakes, his family refused to accept he did anything wrong. On the day of his funeral, state television mentioned Zhao's death for the first time. Xinhua issued a short article on the funerary arrangements, acknowledging Zhao's "contributions to the party and to the people", but said he made "serious mistakes" during the 1989 "political disturbance".<ref name="news.xinhuanet.com"/> 

According to [[Du Daozheng]], who wrote the foreword to the Chinese edition of Zhao's memoirs, the use of the term "serious mistakes" instead of the former verdict of supporting a "counter-revolutionary riot" represented a backing down by the Party.<ref name="Du1" /> After the ceremony, Zhao was [[cremation|cremated]]. His ashes were taken by his family to his Beijing home, since the government had denied him a place at Babaoshan.<ref>Wu Nan. [http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1315525/babaoshan-struggles-meet-demand-cadres-final-resting-place "Babaoshan Struggles to Meet Demand as Cadres' Final Resting Place"]. ''South China Morning Post''. 23 September 2013.</ref> In October 2019, Zhao was finally laid to rest at the Tianshouyuan cemetery north of Beijing.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gerard |first1=Bonnie |title=Damnatio Memoriae in China: Zhao Ziyang Is Laid to Rest |url=https://thediplomat.com/2019/11/damnatio-memoriae-in-china-zhao-ziyang-is-laid-to-rest/ |website=thediplomat.com |publisher=The Diplomat |access-date=15 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mai|first=Jun|date=18 October 2019|title=Low-key ceremony as purged reformer Zhao Ziyang is finally laid to rest|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3033535/low-key-ceremony-zhao-ziyang-who-opposed-tiananmen-crackdown|access-date=30 June 2021|website=[[South China Morning Post]]|language=en}}</ref> Three months later, on the 15th anniversary of Zhao's death, his son  {{Interlanguage link|Zhao Erjun|lt=|zh|赵二军}} reported tightened security at the cemetery, with the addition of facial recognition surveillance cameras, ID checks and security guards patrolling Zhao's grave. A tree was also planted in front of the grave, obstructing access to it.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Long|first=Qiao|date=17 January 2020|others=Translated by Luisetta Mudie|title=Family Reports Tight Security, Digital Surveillance at Grave of Ousted Premier|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/zhao-memorial-01172020132708.html|access-date=30 June 2021|website=[[Radio Free Asia]]|language=en}}</ref>