Zhao Ziyang, Chinese politician, 3rd Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1919) died on January 17, 2005.

Zhao Ziyang was a high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China (PRC). He was the third premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1981 to 1982, and CCP general secretary from 1987 to 1989. He was in charge of the political reforms in China from 1986, but lost power in connection with the reformative neoauthoritarianism current and his support of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.