460 { China’s Quest
were well received by his university audiences, if not by the CCP authorities
in charge of the schools where he was stirring up “turmoil.”
CCP conservatives blamed the student demonstrations on the party’s
failure to wage strong and sustained struggle against “bourgeois liberalism.”
That failure, in turn, had been due to the influence of liberals such as Secretary
General Hu Yaobang. As early as September 1986, after Hu suggested that the
Four Cardinal Principles were out of date and called for reform of China’s
political system, Deng had identified Hu as too weak in opposition to “bour-
geois liberalization.” Following the wave of student demonstrations at the end
of 1986, Deng agreed with the conservatives’ long-standing demand that Hu
be removed. The bill of particulars removing Hu in January 1987 began with
the charge that for years he had failed to resist bourgeois liberalization, con-
tributing to the demand for “total Westernization.” In the debate over Hu’s
removal, Deng Xiaoping spoke favorably of the use of “methods of dictator-
ship” such as martial law, used by the Polish communists in 1981 to “bring
the situation under control.” Reportedly, arguments by Chen Yun had been
decisive in bringing Deng to fire Hu. Hu’s lax leadership, Chen told Deng,
risked a split in the party and the formation of autonomous workers’ unions
and strikes, creating a “Chinese Gdańsk.”