Remembering Zhao Ziyang

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the death of former Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang. The BBC reported on those mourning the anniversary of his death in Beijing:

Mourners have gathered to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of China's purged former leader, Zhao Ziyang.

More than 100 people braved police surveillance to go to what was once his courtyard home in Beijing.

The former Communist Party leader was under constant house arrest until his death in 2005, and his name is still rarely mentioned in official circles.

The mourners took flowers and bowed low before photographs of Mr Zhao, in what appeared to be an impromptu ceremony.

Police officers were stationed outside the compound. They allowed mourners to enter the house to pay their respects, but stopped journalists from going in.

For those not familiar with Zhao:

Zhao Ziyang was promoted by China's former supreme leader, Deng Xiaoping, who was looking for someone to reform the economy and open up the country to the outside world.

Mr Zhao's position seemed assured when he was made general secretary of the ruling Communist Party in 1987.

Zhao was leader of a faction that supported non-violence and a conciliatory to student protestors...a faction that lost resulting in house arrest until his death.

Few Chinese born after the mid to late 1980s have even heard of the name of the man who was the second highest ranking official in China for most of the 80s.