No state funeral for Zhao Ziyang

The family of China's purged Communist Party chief, Zhao Ziyang, will not ask the Government to arrange a state funeral, a source close to the family said yesterday.

Zhao, toppled for opposing the Army crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989, died at a Beijing hospital on Monday after multiple strokes last week. He was 85.

The Government had feared a high-profile funeral could trigger protests and an outpouring of sentiment.