BEIJING - The much waited memorial for the former CCP General Secretary Zhao Ziyang finally took place yesterday in Beijing. During the 12 days between Zhao's passing to yesterday's memorial, the CCP authority exercised strict control over electronic mail traffic, and blocked all messages that contained such sensitive words as “Zhao,” “Ziyang,” or even “News.”

Zhao Ziyang was ousted from his position in 1989 for his sympathy for the June 4th student movement, and was put on house arrest for more than 15 years. After he passed away on January 17, demands his redress and for the reassessment of the June 4th student movement have been voiced in both China and the world.

To prevent widespread protests, Beijing authorities exercised extremely tight control. Other than forbidding media from publishing Zhao-related articles and banning websites from discussing Zhao, they also controlled electronic mail, an important means for modern communication.

Sources in Beijing revealed that they encountered difficulties in accessing email messages during the week before Zhao's memorial.

Sources indicated that such systematic email blockage has occurred before, but in general, it has happened less often in recent years. The authority's email blockage clearly showed their caution and fear.

According to these informants, messages in both Chinese and English have been blocked. As soon as Zhao’s memorial was over yesterday, those email messages that contain the sensitive words of “Zhao,” “Ziyang,” or “News” suddenly flooded in.