Editing Hu Yaobang (section)

===Resignation===
In December 1986, a group of students organized public protests across over a dozen cities in support of political and [[economic liberalization]]. The protests began in the [[University of Science and Technology of China|University of Science and Technology]] in [[Hefei]], Anhui, where they were led by the activist and astrophysicist, [[Fang Lizhi]], who was then vice president of the university. Fang talked openly about introducing political reforms which would end the influence of the Communist Party within the Chinese government. The protests were also led by two other "radical intellectuals", [[Wang Ruowang]] and [[Liu Binyan]].<ref name="lee313-314" />

Deng Xiaoping disliked all three leaders, and ordered Hu to dismiss them from the Party in order to silence them, but Hu Yaobang refused.<ref name="Lee314" /> In January 1987, after two weeks of student protests demanding greater Western-style freedoms,<ref name="britannica" /> a clique of Party elders, senior military officials and Deng Xiaoping forced Hu to resign on the grounds that he had been too lenient with student protesters and for moving too quickly towards free market-style economic reforms.<ref name="Kristof2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Béja |first1=Jean-Philippe |last2=Goldman |first2=Merle |date=2009-06-01 |title=The Impact of the June 4th Massacre on the pro-Democracy Movement |journal=China Perspectives |volume=2009 |issue=2 |pages=18–28 |doi=10.4000/chinaperspectives.4801 |s2cid=142896365 |issn=2070-3449|doi-access=free }}</ref>

After Hu's forced dismissal, Deng Xiaoping promoted [[Zhao Ziyang]] to replace the liberal Hu as Party general secretary, putting Zhao in a position to succeed Deng as "paramount leader".<ref name="independent" /> Hu officially resigned as Party general secretary on 16 January, but retained his seat in the Politburo Standing Committee.<ref name="britannica" /> When Hu "resigned", the Party forced him to issue a humiliating "self-criticism of his mistakes on major issues of political principles in violation of the party's principle of collective leadership". During the event, which consisted of all of the Elders, Politburo, Secretariat, and the Central Advisory Commission, all of his allies abandoned him with the exception of his close friend, [[Xi Zhongxun]], who stood up and defended him and lashed out at everybody for Hu's treatment. Hu had to keep Xi from losing his temper, telling him "Don't worry about it, Zhongxun, I've got this."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Suettinger|first=Robert|date=December 2021|title=Hu Yaobang is Seen as 'More of a Reformer Than Deng Xiaoping,' Says Hu Biographer.|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/tiananmen-scholar-06072021030902.html|access-date=1 March 2021|publisher=Radio Free Asia}}</ref> After that, Hu became more reclusive and less active in Chinese politics, studying revolutionary history and practicing his calligraphy in his spare time, and taking long walks for exercise.<ref name="kristof3" /> Hu was generally viewed as having no real power after his resignation, and he was relegated to largely ceremonial roles.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}

Hu's "resignation" harmed the credibility of the CCP while improving Hu's own. Among Chinese intellectuals Hu became an example of a man who refused to compromise his convictions in the face of political resistance, and who had paid the price as a result. The promotion of a conservative, [[Li Peng]], to the position of premier after Hu's departure from executive-level positions made the government less enthusiastic to pursue reform, and upset plans of an orderly succession of power from Deng Xiaoping to any politician similar to Hu.<ref name="Kristof1" />