Hu Yaobang

Hu Yaobang , 1915-89, Chinese Communist political leader, b. Hunan prov. A protegé of Deng Xiaoping , Hu became general secretary of the Communist party in 1980 and party chairman in 1981, effectively replacing Hua Guofeng as leader of the Communist party. In the wake of student demonstrations for greater democracy, to which he was thought to be sympathetic, he was forced to resign as party secretary in 1987. In 1989, upon his death, students renewed their protests in Tiananmen Square .

Hu Yaobang (1915–89) Chinese statesman, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (1980–87). He joined the Communists in 1933, and took part in the Long March. Hu became associated with Deng Xiaoping in the war against Japan (1937–45), during which he served as a political commissar. In 1952 he became head of the Young Communist League, but lost his post (1966) during the Cultural Revolution. Hu was rehabilitated after Mao Zedong's death (1976). Accused of sympathizing with student demonstrations for democracy, Hu was dismissed. The Tiananmen Square protests followed his death.

Hu Yaobang (b. 1915, d. 15 Apr. 1989). Chinese Communist leader Born in Liuyang (Hunan province), he became active in the Communist Party Youth League at Jianxi in 1933. He took part in the Long March, and he was trained at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political Academy in 1936. Over the next decade, he obtained a distinguished military record, and became a close ally of Deng Xiaoping. He liberated Sichuan from the National Revolutionary Army and stabilized Communist rule there until in 1952 he was appointed head of the Communist Youth League. In 1958 he joined the Communist Party's Central Committee. His ascent was stopped by the Cultural Revolution, and again by the Gang of Four in 1976. Nevertheless, after the latter's fall he became an important ally of Deng Xiaoping in carrying out his reformist policies. His new role as Deng's most trusted lieutenant was confirmed in 1981, when he became chairperson of the Communist Party's Central Committee. In 1987 he was dismissed from his post for having gone too far in his liberal reforms, and for his failure to contain student protests. It was his death which triggered weeks of unrest, culminating in the Tiananmen Square massacre on 4 June 1989.