Zhao Ziyang is the star of Julian Gewirtz's history of elite politics during China's 1980s. Zhao, who served as premier from 1980 to 1987 and as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1987 until June 1989, was at the center of contentious debates about China's economic, political, and technological development, often pushing for more openness and faster changes in all three realms. Gewirtz draws on newly available sources to show how Zhao attempted to push a reform agenda throughout the 1980s. Paramount leader Deng Xiaoping gave Zhao a surprisingly long leash but finally lost trust in him, culminating in Zhao being purged and placed under house arrest during the Tiananmen protests of 1989. Gewirtz shows how Deng Xiaoping moved to erase Zhao—along with the openness and policy experimentation that Zhao championed—from officially approved histories of the 1980s.

Never Turn Back is a valuable account of elite decision-making...

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