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Zhao Ziyang or Chao Tzu-yang[zhou zEyAng] Pronunciation Key, 1919–, Chinese Communist leader. Active as a local party leader during World War II, by the 1960s he was party secretary of Guangdong prov. Persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, he held a variety of party posts after 1971, and was known for reviving agricultural and industrial production in Sichuan prov. A member of the Communist Party Central Committee from 1973, he became premier in 1980 and joined the Standing Committee of the Politburo in 1982. Named general secretary of the party in 1987, he persisted in advocating economic reforms and an open foreign policy. Li Peng succeeded Zhao as premier in 1987. Opposing a policy of repression, Zhao advocated dialogue with the students demonstrating in Tiananmen Square. Consequently, he was ousted from all posts on June 23, and was under house arrest until Oct., 1989.
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