Zhao Ziyang
As a member of the Central Committee, Ye, together with Shanghai mayor Zhu Rongji, was a major regional leader who supported the reformist General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, and resisted Premier Li Peng's policy of retrenchment. Following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and the fall of Zhao Ziyang, the Ye family's power was believed to have weakened due to its sympathy with Zhao.