Days of 1989: June 30, Zhou Duo Arrested; Chen Xitong Reports

On June 30, 1989, Zhou Duo, who was instrumental in negotiating the withdraw of students during massacre, was arrested.

Also on this day, Beijing Mayor Chen Xitong delivered a comprehensive summary report on the 1989 movement to the People's Congress.


Days of 1989

People of 1989: Chen Yizi (陈一咨)

Born in 1940, Chen Yizi studied theoretical physics at Peking University before he changed his major to Chinese literature. But in any case, his study appeared to be in vain when he was forced to spend 10 years in the countryside to be "reformed through labor."

In 1980, he was finally called back to Beijing and founded a group to study agriculture development, upon which he spearheaded the very successful reform in countryside in early 1980s. Thus, he became one of the most significant figures of the socalled "in-system" (体制内) reformers, being very close to the highest power. Later, he also became one of the closest advisers to Zhao Ziyang.

Chen Yizi avoided direct involvement in the early days of 1989 student movement. However, by May 19, when hunger strike entered a critical phase, Zhao Ziyang's position in grave danger, and martial law was imminent, he organized four official organizations close to Zhao Ziyang and published a statement that disclosed the split within leadership and supported the student movement. Then Beijing mayor Chen Xitong cited this document as an intentional act of disclosing state secret.

The day after the massacre, Chen Yizi wrote a statement to withdraw from the Party and then escaped from China. He spent rest of his life in exile, during which he chaired a program at Princeton University for fellow exiled intellectuals and published his personal memoir in 2013.

Chen Yizi passed away on April 14, 2014, at the age of 74.


People of 1989

People of 1989: Chen Xitong (陈希同)

Born in 1930, Chen Xitong was a student of literature in the famed Peking University in 1949, the eve of the founding of People's Republic of China. That was when he joined the Communist Party and started a career in the new China's political bureaucracy. By the early 1980s, he has risen to the top level in the city government of Beijing and become the mayor of this capital city in 1983.

By most accounts, Chen Xitong and his city government took a hard-line position against the student movement in 1989 from the very beginning and helped to establish the official stance that the movement was "turmoil" that had to be suppressed. As the mayor, Chen Xitong himself was rarely seen in public during that fateful period. Notably, he was a minor participant in the disastrous meeting between Li Peng and some of the student leaders.

On the night of May 20, 1989, Chen Xitong, in his official duty as the mayor, signed a series of orders on behalf of the city government that put the martial law in motion. It is not clear what a role he actually played in the execution of the martial law and the eventual massacre.

After the bloody crackdown, Chen Xitong, once again as the mayor of Beijing, submitted a lengthy report to the National People's Congress on how the turmoil and "counter-revolutionary rebellion" was suppressed. It was and still is, by far, the most detailed account of events from the government's perspective.

Post-1989, Chen Xitong was elevated to national leadership position as a member of the Politburo. But his fortune quickly collapsed in 1995 when he was accused of grave corruption and embezzlement. Soon, he lost all his official posts, striped the Party membership, and was sentenced to a 16 year term. He had been on medical parole since 2004.

Chen Xitong died of cancer on June 2, 2013, just short of the 24th anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre.


People of 1989

This Day in 1989: April 30

On the last day of April, 1989, General Secretary Zhao Ziyang returned to Beijing from a state visit to North Korea. He had been away for a week.

The charged atmosphere of the new student movement calmed somewhat. Beijing Students Autonomous Federation busied itself in its own organizational matters. With Wuer Kaixi's absence, they elected Feng Congde to be the new president.

A decision was also made to form a new Dialogue Delegation to seek and prepare for a formal dialogue with the government. During the staged dialogue the day before, Yuan Mu had adamantly asserted that Beijing Students Autonomous Federation was an illegal organization and would never become part of the dialogue. Students hoped that a separate and somewhat moderate Dialogue Delegation could become more acceptable to the government.

Meanwhile, officials from the city government, such as the Mayor Chen Xitong, continued to hold dialogue sessions with hand-picked students, side-stepping the independent organizations such as Beijing Students Autonomous Federation. Big Posters on campuses denounced them as unacceptable to students.


Days of 1989