Hu Jintao, personally ordered the crackdown in Tibet

Hu was appointed Party Chief of the Tibet Autonomous Region from in 1988, during a time of political instability and rising demands from Tibet's people for its independence.

Hu was responsible for a political crackdown in early 1989 that lead to the deaths of several Tibetan activists.

Hu's harsh stance towards in Tibet led him to be reputed as a leader of conviction, and further attracted attention from the Central Government in Beijing.