During the process of correcting the wrongdoings of the past, some people attempted to negate the leadership of the Communist Party and the socialist system. At a meeting to discuss theoretical work on March 30, 1979, Deng Xiaoping emphasized the importance of the Four Cardinal Principles of adhering to the socialist road, the people?s democratic dictatorship, the leadership of the Communist Party and Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought.