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"Reaching from the grave, Zhao pillories a conservative wing of the [Chinese Communist Party] for missteps that led to the bloody crackdown, which began after dark on June 3, 1989 and left hundreds dead. Few in China's leadership at the time escape Zhao's criticism. He castigates Deng Xiaoping, the man credited with opening China to the West and launching its economic reforms; Li Peng, the dour premier at the time of the Tiananmen tragedy; Deng Liqun, a hardline party theoretician; Li Xiannian, a former vice president; and even Hu Yaobang, Zhao's longtime ally, whose death on April 15, 1989 touched off the student-led protests."