On May 19, Zhao Ziyang asked for leave from the Politburo and gradually retired from politics. On May 28, his secretary Bao Tong was arrested and sent to Qincheng Prison. Beginning that day, the Central Committee's supervision of Zhao Ziyang became stricter; Zhao began the 16-year-long house arrest that continued until his death.
On the 28th, Zhao Ziyang sent a letter to Deng Xiaoping, explaining to him that during Zhao's meeting with Gorbachev, he had told Gorbachev that "Deng is still the highest decision maker of the CCP". He said that since Deng Xiaoping was nominally only the chairman of the Central Military Commission, this speech was intended to protect Deng's image and was not in any way intended to hurt him. However, the letter met with no reply.
In his memoir "Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang", which was secretly written and smuggled out by Zhao Ziyang during house arrest, he stated that his house arrest began in June 1989. After the June 4th crackdown, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee held the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th CCP Central Committee from June 23 to the 24th. At the meeting, a large number of documents were printed, implicating Zhao as the mastermind of domestic and foreign reactionary forces intent on overthrowing the CCP and Deng Xiaoping. The "Report on Comrade Zhao Ziyang's Mistakes in the Anti-Party and Anti-Socialist Turmoil" was passed; his positions as General Secretary of the Communist Party, First Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Member of the Politburo Standing Committee, and Member of the Politburo were all revoked, with only his party membership retained. After this point, Zhao continued to be the subject of lengthy scrutiny. His abilities to travel and receive visitors were strictly restricted, and continued until his death due to illness in 2005.
In 1992, the CCP's three-year "internal inquest" of Zhao Ziyang ended with nothing definitive, and Zhao Ziyang's arrest was temporarily loosened. At this time, Du Daozheng, the former director of the State Press and Publication Administration and the publisher of "Yanhuang Chunqiu" (a historical magazine), an open-minded public opinion position within the party, resumed contacts with Zhao. Du persuaded Zhao to leave his memoirs in the form of a Q&A recording. For the 20th anniversary of June 4th, the contents of 38 audio tapes were compiled into a book. The book was published in Chinese and English by New Century Press (Hong Kong); New Century Press was founded by Bao Pu, son of Bao Tong. The published book was titled "Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang".
References: "Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang"; "The Tiananmen Papers"; "The Critical Moment – Li Peng Diaries"
