DIFFICULT QUESTION, LAST QUESTION HELP How did the death of Chinese leader Hu Yaobang in 1989 lead to the protests in Tiananmen Square? a.) As a reform leader, Hu Yaobang had tried to transform China's government into a democracy with free and open elections. b.) Activists in the democratic movement in China occupied Tiananmen Square to mourn Hu Yaobang's death and demand more reforms. c.) Students came out to demonstrate against the assassination of Hu Yaobang and demand that his killer be brought to justice. d.) Students in China were hesitant to trust any communist leader, and Hu Yaobang's treachery was the final straw that led to revolt.

In his official obituary, Hu was described as "a long-tested and staunch communist warrior, a great proletarian revolutionist and statesman, an outstanding political leader for the Chinese army". Western reporters observed that Hu's obituary was intentionally "glowing" in order to divert suspicion that the Party had mistreated him. At the memorial service, Hu's widow Li Zhao blamed Hu's death on how harshly the party treated him, telling Deng Xiaoping "It's all because of you people."

Although he had become a semi-retired official by the time of his death and had been removed from positions of real power for his "mistakes", public pressure forced the Chinese government to give him a state funeral, attended by Party leaders. The eulogy at Hu's funeral praised his work in restoring political normality and promoting economic development after the Cultural Revolution. Public mourners at Hu's funeral lined up ten miles long, a reaction that surprised China's leaders. Shortly after Hu's funeral, students in Beijing began petitioning the government to officially reverse the verdict that had led to Hu's "resignation", and to provide a more elaborate public funeral. The government then held a public memorial service for Hu in the Great Hall of the People.

On 22 April 1989, 50,000 students marched to Tiananmen Square to participate in Hu's memorial service, and to deliver a letter of petition to Premier Li Peng. Many people were dissatisfied with the party's slow response and relatively subdued funerary arrangements. Public mourning began on the streets of Beijing and elsewhere. In Beijing, this was centered on the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square. The mourning became a public conduit for anger against perceived nepotism in the government, the unfair dismissal and early death of Hu, and the behind-the-scenes role of the "old men", officially retired leaders who nevertheless maintained quasi-legal power, such as Deng Xiaoping. The protests eventually escalated into the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Hu's promotion of the ideas on freedom of speech and freedom of press greatly influenced the students