Communist Party And Anti Corruption - 1158 Words

On April 17, 1989, thousands of student protesters flooded Tiananmen Square, Beijing, to mourn Hu Yaobang’s death. Yaobang was the former General Secretary of the Communist Party and also served as a symbol of political reform and anti-corruption. The students asked the government to end corruption and to give political and economic reform. Demonstrations spread to different cities, with workers joining in. They complained about money and housing issues. The spread of the demonstrations concerned Party leaders, who thought there was going to be rebellion from the protesters. Li Peng, who ranked second in the Party, believed that they should â€Å"nip it in the bud,† while Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang thought that Yaobang’s memorial†¦show more content†¦All this does is help demonstrations spread. At this point, foreign coverage of the demonstrations is commonplace, but Party members cannot agree on how to handle the situation. With students going back to their classes, the protesters didn’t have any real leadership. Different factions did different things. Tension arose in the Communist Party while preparing for Soviet Party Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev’s trip to Beijing. Xiaoping wanted to solve the protester situation peacefully, but at the same time, he wanted them out of the Square for Gorbachev’s arrival. However, this would not be the case. On May 13, over 100 students in Tiananmen Square started a hunger strike in hopes for talks with the leaders of the Communist Party, knowing Gorbachev would arrive shortly. On May 15, Gorbachev arrived in Beijing. He was there for the first ever Sino-Soviet summit since 1959, 30 years prior. Unfortunately for him, the strike made plans for him welcomed in the Square be canceled. By the day after he arrived, there were at least 3,000 people that joined the strike, which was humiliating to Gorbachev. While this was happening, Zhao and Peng kept their respective stances; Zhao believed they should listen to the people and make reforms, while Peng maintained that the protesters were no good and that they were aiming to overthrow the Party. Xiaoping ignored