 Despite being the official leader of the party, the state, and the army, Hua was unable to defeat a leadership challenge by Deng Xiaoping.Second, Hua's ousting reflected a change of policies initiated by Deng Xiaoping in which disgraced party members would merely be stripped of their position, but not jailed or otherwise physically harmed.In early 2002, Hua officially lost his seat on the Central Committee of the CPC.