Hu Yaobang
Hu Yaobang (November 20, 1915-April 15, 1989), courtesy name Guoguang, was born in Liuyang, Hunan, China. He was one of the main leaders of the second generation of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China.Hu Yaobang joined the Communist Party of China at the age of 18 years old. During the Anti-Japanese War and the Second Civil War, he served various high-ranking posts in the army, Chinese Communist Youth League, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Organization Department and etc. From June 1981 to September 1982, he served as the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Until January 1987, he served as the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Hu Yaobang was an advocate and executor of rehabilitating unjust, false and wrongly decided cases and discussing truth standards in the early days of reform and opening up.In 1987, he was accused of ineffectively opposing bourgeois liberalization and was forced to conduct self-criticism against his will and resign. He died suddenly on April 15, 1989, which triggered the magnificent Tiananmen democracy movement.
Zhao Ziyang
Zhao Ziyang (October 17, 1919-January 17, 2005), formerly known as Zhao Xiuye, was born in Huaxian County, Anyang City, Henan Province, China. He was one of the second-generation main leaders of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China. He served as Premier of the State Council (1980-1987) and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (1987-1989) in the 1980s.During his tenure as prime minister, he participated in initiating and leading the economic reforms that laid the foundation for mainland China's transformation from a closed-door planned economy to a global market economy. He also actively proposed and designed political system reform plans, combated corruption, and promoted the deepening of reform and opening up. In June 1989, Zhao Ziyang sympathized with the students, advocated resolving conflicts between the students and the government on the basis of democracy and the rule of law, and opposed the use of force to suppress it, therefore, he was dissatisfied with Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun, Li Xiannian and Li Peng, and removed from all positions of the party and government. He spent the last 15 years of his life under house arrest and died on January 17, 2005.