1989 Tienanmen protests were ignited by the death of pro-reform general secretary Hu Yaobang and the perceived notion that the party had mistreated him. The

1989 Tienanmen protests were ignited by the death of pro-reform general secretary Hu Yaobang and the perceived notion that the party had mistreated him. They were the end of the movement that started with 1986 Chinese student demonstrations demanding academic freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of the press that he associated with the West. General secretary Hu Yaobang was removed because he did not try to crush these demonstrations and demands. The 1989 demonstrations demanded continued economic reform and liberalization, but he demands escalated. Students wanted guaranteed constitutional freedoms, fight corruption, adopt a press law, and allow the establishment of privately run newspapers (as in liberal democracy)