Beijing Tightens Security Around Late PM's Cemetary

Security was exceptionally tight at a cemetery in Beijing on the sixteenth anniversary of the death of the late reformist leader Zhao Ziyang.

Police and plain-clothed officers blocked the entrance to the burial ground on Sunday, and banned everyone but the former premier's family from entering to pay tribute.

Authorities ordered journalists to leave the site as well citing the coronavirus outbreak.

Meanwhile, dozens of officers also lined the streets around the home of the former leader in the capital, checking the identities of those walking past.

Zhao had opposed sending tanks into Tiananmen Square where students demanding democracy were protesting on June 4, 1989.

He was later purged from the party and spent the rest of his life under virtual house arrest.

He died in 2005 at the age of 85.