However, after Mao's death in 1976 and the emergence of Deng Xiaoping, Li regained his party membership. In 1982, he was elected to the Central Committee of the Party, and in 1983 became vice director of the Organization Department of the Communist Party, an influential role focused on the promotion, demotion, and recruitment of senior officials in the party. However, in 1984, he was forced to resign from this role after being unwilling to "give special preference to the offspring of senior officials," according to the "New York Times". Li continued to oppose construction of the Three Gorges Dam dam throughout the 1980s, working with environmentalist Dai Qing. In 1989, Li personally witnessed the violent crackdown in the Muxidi neighborhood of Beijing during the Tiananmen Square protests, strengthening his opposition to the party's authoritarian wing. He was an ally of prominent reformists such as Zhao Ziyang and Hu Yaobang.