Yang's role during the Tiananmen protests of 1989 caused a fundamental shift in China's political structure. Yang was at first sympathetic to the students and sided with General Secretary Zhao Ziyang in supporting them. As the Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the Central Military Commission, he even praised Zhao's position by claiming that “" Ziyang’s notion of pacifying the student movement through democracy and law is good and seems quite workable right now".” Zhao's position was contested by Premier Li Peng and Party elder Li Xiannian, who wanted to use force to suppress the student demonstrations, and who engaged in an internal power struggle with Zhao to convince other senior leaders of their position.