Editing Jiang Zemin (section)

=== Tiananmen Square protests and massacre ===
In April 1989, former general secretary [[Hu Yaobang]] died; he had previously been forced to resign in January 1987 and accused of supporting "bourgeois liberalization".{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=133}} His death catalyzed the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]],{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|pp=148–149}} leading to an ideological crisis between "liberals" (who supported aggressive reforms) and "conservatives" (who favored slower change).{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=147|loc="In fact, no one of importance disagreed fundamentally with the necessity of Chapter 9 reform to spur economic development. The fault line between the so-called "liberals" and "conservatives" was the speed and style of the reforms. Still, the division was seismic, and the epicenter would soon be Tiananmen Square."}}<!-- the scare quotes are present around "liberals" and "conservatives" in the source; please keep --> After the Shanghai-based ''[[World Economic Herald]]'' tried to publish a eulogy rehabilitating Hu and praising his reformist stance, Jiang took control of the newspaper's editorial board.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wright |first=Kate |year=1990 |title=The Political Fortunes of Shanghai's 'World Economic Herald' |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2158797 |journal=The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs |issue=23 |pages=121–132 |doi=10.2307/2158797 |jstor=2158797 |s2cid=157680075 |issn=0156-7365}}</ref>{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|pp=133-134, 149}} As the protests continued to grow, the Party imposed martial law and deployed troops in Beijing in May.{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=161}} In Shanghai, 100,000 protestors marched in the streets, and 450 students went on a hunger strike.{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=160}} After the third day, Jiang personally met with them to assure them that the Party shared their goals, and to promise future dialogue. He simultaneously sent a telegram to the Central Committee firmly supporting their martial law declaration.{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=161}}

His careful public appeals were well received by both pro-democracy students and socialist party elders.{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=162}} On 20 May 1989, paramount leader Deng Xiaoping decided to appoint Jiang as the new general secretary, replacing Zhao Ziyang,{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=162|loc=}} who had supported the protestors.<ref name="Pomfret">Pomfret, John. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/14/AR2009051400942.html?sid=ST2009051401023 "In Posthumous Memoir, China's Zhao Ziyang Details Tiananmen Debate, Faults Party"]. ''The Washington Post''. 15 May 2009. p.2.</ref><ref name="PPan">{{Cite book |last=Philip P. Pan |url=http://archive.org/details/outofmaosshadows00panp |title=Out of Mao's shadow |date=2008 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-3705-2 |pages=4–5 |oclc=1150955831 |author-link=Philip Pan |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Jiang was selected as a compromise candidate over [[Tianjin]]'s [[Li Ruihuan]], premier [[Li Peng]], elders [[Li Xiannian]], [[Chen Yun]], and the retired elders to become the new general secretary.{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=163}} Before that, he had been considered to be an unlikely candidate.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-09-19-china-military_x.htm|title=USATODAY.com – China completes military power transfer|website=USA Today|access-date=5 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102160834/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-09-19-china-military_x.htm|archive-date=2 November 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>