Ling Jihua Secretary Hu Jintao. On September 19, 2007 Ling was promoted to become Director of General Office of the Communist Party of China, the nerve center of the party that was in charge of all manner of administrative activities of the party's central authorities, including communications and leaders' scheduling and agendas. He also became a Secretary of the Central Secretariat, in charge of the implementation of tasks set forth by the party's Politburo. Throughout Hu Jintao's leadership, Ling accompanied Hu on trips abroad and was often seen with Hu on inspection visits around the country. As one of Hu Jintao's closest
Hu Jintao the local students protest parallel to the Democracy Wall carefully, whereas in Beijing similar protests resulted in Hu Yaobang's forced resignation. Hu Yaobang was purged in the late 1980s due to his 'liberal' tendencies towards systemic reform, and his departure from the political scene was initially seen as unfavourable towards Hu Jintao. Hu Jintao drew criticism from party elders for failing to criticize the ousted reformer. In 1988, Hu was transferred to become Party Regional Committee Secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, while also taking on the role of Political Commissar of the local People's Liberation Army units. This made