Editing Jiang Zemin (section)

== Rise to power ==
Jiang was appointed as general secretary at the fourth plenum of the Thirteenth Central Committee on 24 June 1989 with a fairly small power base inside the party, and thus, very little actual power.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mackerras |first1=Colin |last2=McMillen |first2=Donald H. |last3=Watson |first3=Andrew |title=Dictionary of the Politics of the People's Republic of China |date=16 December 2003 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-53175-2 |page=249 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LYmBAgAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto" /> His most reliable allies were the powerful party elders Chen Yun and Li Xiannian. He was believed to be simply a transitional figure until a more stable successor government to Deng could be put in place.{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=3}} Other prominent Party and military figures like President [[Yang Shangkun]] and his brother [[Yang Baibing]] were believed to be planning a coup.{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=219}}

At the first meeting of the new [[Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP Politburo Standing Committee]], after the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, Jiang criticized the previous period as "hard on the economy, soft on politics" and advocated increasing political thought work.<ref name="brady08">Anne-Marie Brady, Marketing Dictatorship: Propaganda and Thought Work in Contemporary China, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.</ref> [[Anne-Marie Brady]] wrote that "Jiang Zemin was a long time political cadre with a nose for ideological work and its importance. This meeting marked the beginning of a new era in propaganda and political thought work in China." Soon after, the Central Propaganda Department was given more resources and power, "including the power to go in to the propaganda-related work units and cleanse the ranks of those who had been supportive of the democracy movement."<ref name="brady08" />

The Politburo also issued a list of "seven things" regarding "matters of universal concern to the masses", with party corruption as the top priority.{{Sfn|Kuhn|2004|p=181}} Jiang was also appointed as the chairman of the Central Military Commission on 9 November 1989, succeeding Deng,<ref>{{cite journal |date=1 September 2004 |title=China's military leadership |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1356788041071 |journal=Strategic Comments |volume=10 |issue=7 |pages=1–2 |doi=10.1080/1356788041071 |s2cid=219695239 |access-date=30 November 2022}}</ref> and president of the PRC on 27 March 1993;<ref>{{cite news |last1=Byrnes |first1=Michael |date=29 March 1993 |title=Jiang Zemin Elected President of China |work=Australian Financial Review |url=https://www.afr.com/politics/jiang-zemin-elected-president-of-china-19930329-k5bxx |access-date=8 December 2022}}</ref> this marked the start of the arrangement in which the paramount leader of China simultaneously serves as Party leader, president and chair of the CMC.<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 January 2013 |title=Jiang Zemin to Have Lower Rank in Communist Party |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |agency=Agence France-Presse |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9823478/Jiang-Zemin-to-have-lower-rank-in-Communist-party.html |url-status=live |access-date=12 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312234448/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9823478/Jiang-Zemin-to-have-lower-rank-in-Communist-party.html |archive-date=12 March 2018}}</ref>