Zhao Ziyang Definition

1919-2005; Chin. Communist leader: premier of China (1980-88); general secretary of the Communist Party (1987-89)

Chinese politician. Purged from the Communist Party in the Cultural Revolution, he was reinstated (1973), served as premier (1980–1987), and was appointed general secretary of the Communist Party (1987). He was dismissed in 1989 for showing support for pro-democracy demonstrators.