China tightens security in Tiananmen Square

China has posted an extra 1,000 police officers in Beijing's Tiananmen square to prevent any possible pro-democracy demonstrations.

The increase in security is due to the ill health of former Communist leader Zhao Ziyang.

The liberal politician has not been seen in public in years, but many Chinese still view him as a symbol of democratic ideas.

On Jan. 11, the government broke its long-held silence over Zhao to deny rumours of his death. A foreign ministry spokesman said the 85-year-old was in hospital and in a stable condition.

On Saturday, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Demoracy quoted a relative of the deposed reformist leader as saying he is in a "deep coma" in a hospital in central Beijing.

In a long career as a Communist Party official, Zhao held China's top jobs as premier from 1983 to 1987 and general secretary of the Communist Party from 1987 to 1989.

But it's his role in the events of 1989 that have made him most widely known and remembered outside of China.

An outpouring of grief for the death of Zhao's predecessor and fellow reformer Hu Yaobang led to massive protests against corruption and demands for democratic reforms. Within the party a struggle ensued over how to handle the demonstrations.

The hardliners won and Zhao was sidelined. He was last seen in public in Tiananmen Square on the evening of May 19, 1989.

Clutching a megaphone, a tearful Zhao told the students he had come too late and pleaded with them to go home.

Martial law was declared the next day and the military crushed the protests on June 4.

Zhao was placed under house arrest, but remained an iconic figure. In recent years, reports of his ill-health have led to government nervousness that his death will lead to unrest and protests.