On 15 April 1989, after the death of former
General Secretary Hu Yaobang, Beijing university students began to assemble in
Tiananmen Square to protest. This was the beginning of the Tiananmen Democracy Movement. General Secretary
Zhao Ziyang thought that the government should talk with the student protestors. As a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and a member of the Secretariat, Hu was placed in charge of propaganda. Hu followed Zhao's instructions and began a propaganda policy for openness and tolerance in engaging the students in dialogue. On 29 April 1989, the
People’s Daily published an editorial titled, Keep Stable, Keep Overall Situation. Hu commented that the Beijing student protesters had begun to act reasonably and that the Chinese government needed to offer more accurate news for the students. He also believed that the student movement should be reported on accurately and without misinformation. Hu also agreed with Zhao Ziyang's speech. On 3 May 1989, Zhao made a speech to commemorate the
May Fourth Movement on its 70th anniversary. In the speech, he stated that the
Beijing student protesters
loved China and called for continued talks with the student leaders. On 19 May 1989, there was an evening meeting to brief the Politburo Standing Committee. Zhao refused to accept the command to institute
martial law as proposed by Premier
Li Peng. Zhao and Hu were the only two members of the Standing Committee opposed to martial law. This began the downturn of Hu's political fortunes. The Fourth Plenum of the
Thirteenth Central Committee was held on 23 and 24 June 1989. They approved a decision made two days earlier at a meeting of the Politburo to strip Hu and Zhao as well as
Rui Xingwen and
Yan Mingfu of their party posts. For a period of time, Hu was expelled from politics in China. ==Return to government==