7 Deng Xiaoping 7in the making of economic decisions, material incentives
as the reward for industry and initiative, and the forma-
tion of groups of skilled, well-educated technicians and
managers to spearhead China’s development. He freed
many industrial enterprises from the control and supervi-
sion of the central government and gave factory managers
the authority to determine production levels and to pursue
profits for their enterprises. In foreign affairs, Deng
strengthened China’s trade and cultural ties with the West
and opened up Chinese enterprises to foreign investment.
Deng eschewed the most conspicuous leadership posts
in the party and government. But he was a member of the
powerful Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, and
he retained control of the armed forces by virtue of his
being chairman of the CCP’s Central Military Commission.
He was also a vice-chairman of the CCP. Owing both to
his posts and to the weight and authority of his voice
within the party, he remained China’s chief policy maker
throughout the 1980s. In 1987 Deng stepped down from
the CCP’s Central Committee, thereby relinquishing his
seat on the Political Bureau and its dominant Standing
Committee. By doing so he compelled similar retirements
by many aged party leaders who had remained opposed or
resistant to his reforms.
Deng faced a critical test of his leadership in April–
June 1989. Zhao had replaced the too-liberal Hu as general
secretary of the CCP in 1987. Hu’s death in April 1989
sparked a series of student demonstrations in Tiananmen
Square in Beijing demanding greater political freedom and
a more democratic government. After some hesitation,
Deng supported those in the CCP leadership who favoured
the use of force to suppress the protesters, and in June the
army crushed the demonstrations with considerable loss
of life. Zhao was replaced as party leader by the more