Beijing, Jan. 18 (Reuters): The family of purged Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang has decided to forgo a state funeral, sparing China?s leaders a sensitive decision on whether to hold a high-profile ceremony that they fear could trigger protests.

The government stood by its decision to suppress the 1989 protests and made clear Zhao?s death would not spur a re-evaluation of a movement condemned as ?counter-revolutionary? ? or of Zhao himself. ?The political disturbance and the problem of Zhao himself has already passed. What happened in 1989 has reached its conclusion,? foreign ministry spokesperson Kong Quan said.