Zhao Ziyang

Zhao Ziyang (1919-2005), Chinese politician, Premier of the People’s Republic of China (1980-1987). He was born in Henan (Ho-nan) Province, the son of a landlord, and joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1938. After the Communist victory in 1949, he rose through the ranks to become First Secretary (1965) of the Guangdong (Kwangtung) branch of the party, where he encouraged production through incentive systems. Purged and humiliated during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1969, he was later rehabilitated and restored to the Guangdong leadership. From 1975 to 1980 he was the chief administrator of Sichuan (Szechwan) Province, where his success in raising agricultural and industrial production catapulted him to national leadership; he was made an alternate member of the Politburo in 1977, a full member in 1979, and was elevated to Premier, succeeding Hua Guofeng in 1980 as a protégé of Deng Xiaoping. In 1987, following student demonstrations, he became General Secretary of the party instead of Hu Yaobang, and resigned as Premier. In the pro-democracy rallies of April and May 1989 he appeared to sympathize with the Tiananmen Square protest, and pleaded with student demonstrators to leave Tiananmen Square on May 26—his last public appearance—after losing a Politburo vote against the imposition of martial law. After the Tiananmen Square massacre, he was ousted from his party posts and disappeared from view. Though kept under house arrest, Zhao apparently experienced fairly mild detention during the 1990s and kept open contacts with leaders in office. Amid speculation over a possible comeback after the death of Deng Xiaoping in February 1997, he was barred in March from returning to Beijing. In September 1997 he reportedly wrote to the 15th congress of the CCP, asking for an official reassessment of the events of 1989; his request was refused.