Zhao Ziyang

Zhao Ziyang (1919-2005), premier of the People’s Republic of China from 1980 to 1987. Zhao was born in Henan Province and joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1938. After the Chinese Communists gained control of mainland China in 1949, Zhao rose through the party ranks to become first secretary of the CCP’s Guangdong branch in 1965. Purged and humiliated during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), he was later rehabilitated and restored to Guangdong leadership. From 1975 to 1980 he was the chief administrator of Sichuan Province, where his success in raising agricultural and industrial production catapulted him to national leadership. He was appointed as an alternate member of the ruling Politburo in 1977 and became a full member in 1979. In 1980 Zhao succeeded Hua Guofeng as premier of China. In 1987 Zhao became general secretary of the party, and resigned as premier. Zhao was sympathetic to students who protested for political reforms in the Tiananmen Square Protest of 1989. During the suppression of the demonstrations in June, he was ousted from his party post and placed under house arrest, which he remained under until his death.