[3] In June 1990, Deng was appointed Party Chief of Hainan to replace Xu, ostensibly because of his "rich experience in party and government leading positions" and "his familiarity with economic work", but it is commonly believed that his promotion was linked to his relationship with the central government leaders Jiang Zemin and Qiao Shi, the latter reportedly a close friend of his.
However, instead of focusing on economic reform, Deng emphasized "cadre building", citing Mao Zedong's quotations as justification.
He brought to Hainan many of his followers and friends from Jiangsu, and forbade local cadres to build their own private houses.
[2] Li was imprisoned after the accusation was proven false, and Liu launched a counter-investigation to find the instigator, rumoured to be Deng.
Their infighting became an embarrassment to the central government, which transferred both of them to Beijing in January 1993, and replaced them with a single official, Ruan Chongwu.