People of 1989: Li Peng (李鹏)

Premier Li Peng was undoubtedly the No. 1 target during the entire 1989 Chinese student movement.

Li Peng was born in 1928. He was an offspring of an earlier Communist Party underground and martyr. He spent his earlier life working in the technical field of electrical engineering and did not reach prominence until 1980, when he was named as the minister for electrical industry.

The 1980s saw Li Peng steadily rise in the ranks of the top echelon of Chinese leadership, serving the posts of Vice Premier, Commissioner of Education, Politburo Member, Politburo Standing Committee Member. When Premier Zhao Ziyang succeeded the disgraced Hu Yaobang into the post of General Secretary, Li Peng became the Premier.

Li Peng continued to maintain a low public profile, dodged by unfounded rumors of his heritage and favoritism. While as Education Commissioner as well as Vice Premier, he instituted a series of policy that limited university students from going abroad. This certainly did not gain him any favors from the younger generation. Also in the 1980s, he was consistently portrayed as an enemy of reform for his willingness to reign in the economy from runaway inflation.

As the 1989 movement started, students took aim straight to Li Peng. Whether it was when they staged protests in front of Xinhuamen or an kneeling appeal at Hu Yaobang funeral, the loudest chant was always "Li Peng, Come Out!" But Li Peng made no attempt in publicly acknowledging or responding to the demands. He was content to let Zhao Ziyang and Deng Xiaoping handle the movement on the front line.

When the situation escalated and then deteriorated, Li Peng finally stepped up with a surprising meeting with the hunger striking student leaders.

But it was later when he announced the imposition of martial law that his image was forever burned into history.

He quickly became the public enemy No 1 among the protesters, who often chanted "We will Come Every Day, Until Li Peng Goes Away" (“李鹏不下台，我们天天来”）

After the massacre, Li Peng also earned the reputation of "Butcher of Beijing" in international media. He later delivered an official indictment on the now overthrown Zhao Ziyang. But perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, he did not succeed him as General Secretary but remained as Premier.

Li Peng later did reign in the economy with the help of an oppressive political atmosphere in the aftermath of 1989, which paved the way for a new round of reform and openness in the 1990s. He was also instrumental in the building of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.

Li Peng stepped down from Premiership in 1998 and retired from public life in 2003. He spent his later years writing memoirs. He died on July 22, 2019 in Beijing. He was 90.


People of 1989

People of 1989: Yuan Mu (袁木)

In the 1980s, the title of a government spokesperson was still a new curiosity. As such, Yuan Mu was a virtual unknown at the beginning of 1989 but he eventually came to personify the role of Spokesman for the State Council (国务院发言人) throughout the student movement that year.

After the mass demonstration of April 27, 1989, the government adopted a limited conciliatory approach toward dialog with students. It was Yuan Mu who hosted the first such session on April 29, which was broadcast live. Yuan Mu promised more dialogues in the future but emphasized that government would never talk to "illegal student organizations." Students, however, quickly questioned the representativeness of the invited attendees and some even walked out in protest of Yuan Mu's condescending tone.

Yuan Mu (front center) meets with students on April 29, 1989.

On May 3, the eve of a planed student demonstration, Yuan Mu held a press conference to reject Beijing Students Autonomous Federation's demands.

Yuan Mu (far right) at press conference on May 3, 1989.

Later in May, Yuan Mu seemed to be sidelined somewhat as other government officials, such as Zhao Ziyang, Hu Qili, and Yan Mingfu, took more significant roles in various dialogues. Along with Li Peng, Yuan Mu had become one of most hated target of the movement by then.

After the massacre, Yuan Mu re-emerged and continued his role of the chief government spokesman. He held a press conference on June 6 to "reveal the truth of a counter-revolutionary rebellion" and announced the first government statistics on casualties.

But it was ten days later, when he was interviewed by Tom Brokaw of NBC News that he gained worldwide infamy. Yuan Mu repeated the government line that no death had occurred during the clearance of Tiananmen Square. Since the "clearance period" was left undefined, his assertion was summarily condemned. He also became the personification of Chinese government's lies. (In his memoir China Hands, The US Ambassador James Lilley recalled an incident that, when Yuan Mu's daughter came to the consulate to apply for a student visa to US, she was openly ridiculed.)

Yuan Mu graduated faded out of public view after 1989 and retired in 2000. He died on December 13, 2018 in Beijing. He was 90.


People of 1989

This Day in 1989: May 1, 1990, Lhasa Martial Law Lifted

On April 30, 1990, Premier Li Peng announced the end of martial law in the city of Lhasa, capital of Tibet. The martial law was imposed on March 7, 1989, and lasted about 13 months.


Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: January 10, 1990, Beijing Lifts Martial Law; US Lessens Sanction

On January 10, 1990, Premier Li Peng announced in a televised speech that Beijing's martial law would end from the next day. The martial law was imposed on the night of May 19, 1989, also announced by Li Peng in a televised speech.

A few hours later, the American government announced that they would no longer prevent the World Bank from issuing loans to China, an economic sanction imposed after the massacre.

Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: November 8, 1989, Former Secretary of State Kissinger Visits China

On November 8, 1989, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger arrived at Beijing. This is the second high-profile former government officer to visit China as a private citizen, right on the heels of that of Richard Nixon.

Kissinger met with a series of top Chinese officials including Deng Xiaoping and Li Peng.

Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: October 28, 1989, Former President Nixon Visits China

On October 28, 1989, Former President and "Old Friend of Chinese People" Richard Nixon arrived in Beijing. He came as a private citizen at the time that US-China government contacts had been suspended.

However, Nixon consulted with President Bush before his travel. Bush asked Nixon to fact-find as well as moderate many issues between the two countries, especially that Professor Fang Lizhi's taking refugee in US Embassy.

Nixon met with Deng Xiaoping, Li Peng, and other high-level officials during his stay in Beijing.


Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: September 1, 1989: Li Peng Interviewed by Le Figaro

On September 1, 1989, Premier Li Peng granted an interview by the French newspaper Le Figaro and answered a series of questions by Alain Peyrefitte. He cited the testimony by Hou Dejian to reiterate that there had been no death during the "clearing of Tiananmen Square," and that the "truth about Tiananmen was distorted."


Days of 1989

Days of 1989: July 1, Bush's Special Envoys Visit Beijing in Secret

On July 1, 1989, National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and Associate Secretary of State Larry Eagleburger arrived at Beijing. They held talks with Deng Xiaoping, Li Peng, Yang Shangkun, and other Chinese officials.

After the massacre, White House had immediately announced a suspension of high-level contacts between the two governments. However, President Bush was so worried about the Sino-US relationship that he penned a private letter to Deng Xiaoping. Soon after receive a positive response, he dispatched Scowcroft and Eagleburger as special envoys to maintain communication channels. Although Bush thought the mission was successful, he was nonetheless concerned that China did not provide any response of substance.

The July visit was kept in secret for a few months until in December of that year when a second visit to Beijing by Scowcroft was discovered by the media.


Days of 1989

Days of 1989: June 9, Deng Xiaoping Receives Martial Law Troops

On June 9, 1989, Deng Xiaoping finally appeared in public after the massacre by meeting with a large assemble of officers of martial law troops. He was accompanied by Yang Shangkun, Li Peng, Qiao Shi, Yao Yilin, Wan Li, etc. -- an early indication of who among the top leaders had gained the upper hand.

Deng Xiaoping delivered a lengthy speech to establish the official party line on the massacre.

Also on this day, the city of Shanghai mobilized a hundred thousand workers to clear obstacles in her streets. Normal order gradually returned to the city.


Days of 1989

People of 1989: Qiao Shi (乔石)

Qiao Shi was born in 1924 at Shanghai. He joined the Chinese Communist Party when he was not even 16 years old and quickly became active in the underground. He helped lead a few student movements in that era.

In the early 1980s, Qiao Shi's political career was reaching its peak. He held the offices of Party Central Chief of Staff, Head of Department of Personnel, Head of the Political and Law Commission, etc., as well as a member of the most powerful Politburo Standing Committee. For many years, he was in charge of the personnel and disciplinary matters of the Party.

In 1988, he had an extended work trip to Tibet, for which he was connected to the execution of martial law in Lhasa in March, 1989.

During the 1989 student movement, Qiao Shi had kept an extremely low profile. He only appeared in public a couple of times along with other Politburo members and never voiced any opinion of his own. In the few days after the massacre when an uncertain power vacuum existed at the top, Qiao Shi was once rumored to be the new General Secretary. However, when the dust settled, the post unexpected went to Jiang Zemin. Qiao Shi later became the Chairman of the National People's Congress and the number 3 leader behind Jiang Zemin and Li Peng in the new leadership collective.

On June 23, 1989, Jiang Zemin (right), Li Peng (center), and Qiao Shi (back) meet Li Xiannian (left).

In November, 1989, Qiao Shi led a delegate of Chinese Communist Party dignitaries to visit a few east European countries. They made to Romania and Bulgaria on the eve of their respective political changes, but was too late for Czechoslovak, whose Communist Party collapsed just days before.

Qiao Shi died on June 14, 2015 in Beijing. He was 91.


People of 1989

Days of 1989: June 8, Li Peng Resurfaces, Chai Ling Makes an Audiotape

In the morning of June 8, 1989, Premier Li Peng, along with Vice President Wang Zheng, met some martial law troops at the Great Hall of People. This is the very first appearance of high-level government officials since the massacre, indicating the in-fight at the top is coming to an end.

The Headquarters of the martial law troops announces a series of orders, calling for student and worker leaders to turn themselves in. They also publishes phone numbers for citizens to call for tips and leads of "rebellions."

One of the people from Hong Kong, Lee Cheuk Yan, is arrested in Beijing. He was carrying a substantial amount of money donated by Hong Kong people to the student movement. The donation is confiscated. Lee is later released.

Also on this day, Chai Ling, who is on the run, arrived at Wu Han in secret. With help from local students, she records an audiotape on the massacre. The tape is to be smuggled into Hong Kong in a few days and becomes a major media event.


Days of 1989

Pictures of 1989: Headquarters for Defending Tiananmen on May 24, 1989

Banners on the Monument of People's Heroes spell out demands of the movement.

Wang Dan (left) announces the new Headquarters for Defending Tiananmen, with him is Lao Mu (center) and Liu Suli (right).

Reporters gather for the press conference.

Student broadcast center at Tiananmen Square.

Posters denouncing Li Peng at Peking University.

Pictures of 1989

Pictures of 1989: Zhao Ziyang's Farewell and Li Peng's Martial Law on May 19, 1989

Zhao Ziyang appears at Tiananmen Square and speaks to students in the early morning. On the right is Wen Jiabao.

In the afternoon, students announce the end of hunger strike.

Students after the end of hunger strike.

The Workers Autonomous Federation makes more prominent appearance.

At night, the meeting that announces the martial law.

Li Peng announces martial law.

Pictures of 1989

Pictures of 1989: Premier Li Peng Meets Students on May 18, 1989

Li Peng visits hunger strikers in hospital.

Wuer Kaixi (center) walks into Great Hall of People to meet with Li Peng

Premier Li Peng at the meeting.

Wang Dan (left) and Wuer Kaixi (right) at the meeting.

Wuer Kaixi (center) talks to reporters after the meeting.

Pictures of 1989

This Day in 1989: March 7, Martial Law in Lhasa, Tibet

On March 7, 1989, as a response to two days of protests and riots, the Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng declared martial law in Tibet's capital city Lhasa.

Under the martial law, People's Liberation Army moved in and quickly suppressed the protests. It is not clear how many perished in the process. The Chinese government announced that a dozen people died. New York Times reported an unofficial number of 75 (and later cited a Chinese journalist who claimed that more than 450 died).

This is the first time martial law was imposed in China since the chaotic Cultural Revolution. But it failed to garner attention both inside China and abroad. The martial law was finally lifted on May 1, 1990, more than a whole year later.


This Day in 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

Document of 1989: Four Gentleman's Hunger Strike Manifesto

At the end of May, 1989, the student movement has reached a low point. Students' hunger strike has long ended. Martial law was declared many days ago, but the troops were blocked outside of the city by residents. Students continued to occupy the Tiananmen Square and several attempts of organized withdraw had failed. It was at this time Liu Xiaobo, then a lecturer at Beijing Normal University, suggested to launch a hunger strike relay by famous intellectuals, a symbolic action of plunging into the movement themselves. He was only able to recruit Hou Dejian, Zhou Dou, and Gao Xin. Together, they started a hunger strike on June 2 and were collectively referred as the "Four Gentlemen."

The manifesto of this hunger strike was drafted by Liu Xiaobo himself. In this document, he declared for the first time his famous slogan, "We have no enemies," which he insisted to this day.

The following is a translation. The original in Chinese can be viewed here.

Four Gentlemen Hunger Strike Manifesto

6/2/1989

We start our hunger strike! We protest! We call upon people! We repent!

We are not looking for death. We are searching for true life.

Under the tremendous pressure of irrational militant violence by the Li Peng regime, Chinese intellectuals must end their all-words-but-no-action tradition of osteomalacia. We must protest the military rule with our actions. We must call for the birth of a brand new political culture with our actions. We must repent the mistakes we made from our long-time weakness. Each of us bears a part of the responsibility for the backwardness of our Chinese nation.

1. The Purpose of Hunger Strike

The current democratic movement, unprecedented in China's history, has always used legal, non-violent, and rational means to appeal for liberty, democracy, and human rights. However, the Li Peng regime went so far as to mobilize a military force of hundreds of thousands to suppress the unarmed students and people of all walks. Therefore, we start our hunger strike, not for petition, but for protesting the martial law and military rule! We advocate the pushing for progress in China's democratization with peaceful means and we are against any form of violence. However, we are not afraid of violence. We want to use peaceful means to demonstrate the toughness of our civil and demoractic force, to demolish the undemocratic order supported by bayonets and lies! This ultra-foolish act of using martial law and military rule against students and masses in peaceful petition establishes a precedence of the very worst kind, put the Communist Party, the government, and the military in shame, and destroys the fruit of a decade of reform and openness in a single day!

The thousdands of years history of China is filled with hatred and violent clashes. Even in the modern era, the sense of enermy is a heritage for Chinese people. After 1949, the slogan of "Class Struggle as the Guideline" pushed the tranditional senses of hatred, enemy, and violence even more to the extreme. This military rule is also a result of the "class struggle"-style political culture. Because of this, we start our hunger strike, to call on Chinese people to gradually abandon and eliminate the senses of enemy and hatred, absolutely abolish the "class struggle"-style political culture -- because hatred could only produce violence and tyrancy. We must begin China's democratic reconstruction with a democractic sense of tolerance and cooperation. The democratic politics is a politics without enemy and hatred, but only consultation, discussion, and voting based on mutual respect, mutual tolerance, and multure compromises. As the Premier, Li Peng has made serious mistakes and should resign according to democratic procedures. But Li Peng is not our enemy. Even after he steps down, he should continue to enjoy his rights as a citizen, including the rights to uphold his incorrect opinions. We call upon the government and every ordinary citizen to abandon the old political culture and start a new political culture. We demand the government to end the military rule immediately. And we call upon students and the government to once again negotiate peacefully and to resolve their conflicts with consulation and dialogue.

This student movement has received unprecedented sympathy, understanding, and support from all walks of the society. The implementation of the military rule has turned the student movement into a democratic movement participated by all people. But there is no denying that many people support students only out of humanitarian compassion and resentment to the government and lack a true sense of citizenship out of political responsibilities. Therefore, we call upon the whole society to gradually abandon the spectator and mere sympathy attitudes and build up a true sense of citizenship. First and foremost, citizenship is a sense of political equality. Every citizen must have the self-confidence that his own political rights is equal to that of the Premier. Secondly, citizenship is not only justice and sympathy, but also a rational urge of participation. This is also the sense of political responsibility. Every person does not just sympathize and support but participate directly in the democratic reconstruction. Finally, citizenship is the consciousness of taking responsibilities and obligations. The existence of rational and legal social politics is to everyone's credit. The existence of irrational and illegal social politics is to everyone's fault. Consciously participating in social politics and consciously taking on responsibilities is every citizen's loyal obligation. Chinese people must understand: in democraticized politics, everybody must be a citizen first, and then be a student, professor, worker, cadre, soldier, etc..

For thousands years, the Chinese society went through vicious cycles of overthrowing an old emperor and establishing a new one. History has shown that the stepping down by one leader who had lost people's heart and the rise of another leader beloved by the poeple cannot solve the true problems in Chinese politics. What we need is not a perfect savior but a complete democratic system. Therefore, I call for the following: First, the society should form legal, independent organizations by various means, gradually establish a grass-root political force to balance the government power. Because the essence of democracy is balance, we would rather have ten devils balancing each other than a single angle with absolute power. Second, gradually establish a thorough procedure for impeachment by impeaching leaders who made serious mistakes. It is not important as of who to step up or down, it is important in how they step up or down. An undemocractic appointing and firing procedure can only lead to dictatorship.

In this movement, the government and students have all made mistakes. The mistakes by the government are mainly for standing on the opposite side of the vast student and resident mass and escalating the conflicts, guided by the old "class struggle" political mindset. Students' mistakes are mainly in the shortcomings of their own organizations. They showed many non-democratic elements during their efforts in petitioning for democracy. Therefore, we call upon both government and students sides to reflect calmly. It is our opinion that, as a whole, the main mistakes in this movement are on the government's side. The actions of demonstrations and hunger strike are ways for people to express their opinions. They are absolutely rational and legal, and not turmoil. But the government ignored the fundamental rights guaranteed to every citizen by the Constitution and adopted a tyranical political mindset to characterize this movement as turmiol. This led to a series of incorrect policies and again and again pushed the movement to new heights, made the conflict more and more dramatic. Therefore, the real culprit of creating turmoil is government's errenous policies, whose seriousness is not any less than that during the Culture Revolution. It is only due to the restraints of students and residents, including the many strong voices by enlightened individuals in the Party, government, and military, that we are spared of any large-scale bloodshed. Because of this, the government must admit and reflect on these mistakes. We believe that it is still not too late for corrections. The government should learn a hearty lesson from this large-scale democratic movement, acquire a new habit of listening to people's voices, get used to people expressing their opinions with the rights guanranteed by the Constitution, and learn to govern the nation democratically. This wide-range democratic movement is teaching the government how to manage society with democracy and rule of law. The mistakes on the students' side are mainly in the chaos in their internal organizations, the lack of effenciency and democratic procedure. For instance, their goals are democracy but their means and procedures are undemocratic; their theory is democratic but their handling of real issues are undemocratic; they lack the spirit of cooperation, their powers cancel each other and led to confusion in decision-making; their finance is a mess and waste is rampant; they have abundance of emotion but not enough of reasoning; they possess too much sense of priviledge but lacks equality, etc. etc.. In the most recent hundred years, the struggle to achieve democracy by the Chinese people has mostly limited at the level of ideology and slogans. It only concerns with the idea of enlightening but not the actual implementations, only the goal but not the means, processes and procedures. We believe that the true realization of a democratic politics is the democratization of the actual process, means, and procedures. Therefore, we call upon Chinese people to abandon the traditional empty democray of ideology and slogans and to begin the actual implementation, to transfer the democratic movement centered in enlightenment to a democractic movement of actual implementations, acting from every detailed piece of issues. We call upon the students to start their own reflections by focusing on establishing the order within Tiananmen Square.

The big mistakes the government made are also represented in their use of the term "a small clique". With our hunger strike, we want to tell all the media home and abroad that the socalled "a small clique" means such a group of people: they are not students but they are willingly participating in this students-led democratic movement as citizens with strong senses of political responsibility. Everything we do is legal and rational. They want to use their intelligence and action to help the government repent in the areas of political culture, personal character, and ethical power, openly acknowledge and correct its mistakes; to help the students refine their independent organizations with democratic and legal procedures. We must admit that it is an unfamiliar concept to every Chinese citizen to govern the nation democratically. All Chinese citizens must learn from the scratch, that includes the top leaders in the Party and the government. In this process, mistakes by the government and the people are unavoidable. The key is to acknowledge the mistakes, correct the mistakes, and turn these mistakes into positive treature so we can learn how to govern our nation democratically through the process of correcting mistakes.

2. Our Slogans

We have no enemies! Don't let hatred and violence poison our intellegence and China's democratization process!

We need to reflect! It's everyone's responsility for China's falling behind!

We are citizens first!

We are not looking for death! We are seeking the true life!

3. Hunger Strike Location, Time, and Rules

Location: Under the Monument of People's Heros at Tiananmen Square

Time: 72 hours, 6/2 4pm to 6/5 4pm

Special Note: Since Hou Dejian has to travel to Hong Kong for recording in 6 days, his hunger strike will be 48 hours, 6/2 4pm to 6/4 4pm

Rules: Only consume plain water, any beverage containing nutritious ingredients (super, starch, fat, protein) is not allowed

4. Hunger Strikers

Liu Xiaobo: Doctor in Literature, Lecturer at Beijing Normal University

Zhou Dou: formerly lecturer at Peking University, Stone Corp.

Hou Dejian: Known song writer

Gao Xin: editor-in-chief of Beijing Normal University Weekly, member of Chinese Communist Party

Documents of 1989

Happenings at the 21st Anniversary

There have been many commemoration events, large and small, real and virtual, around the world during the 21st anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. Here is an obviously incomplete list of the major occurrences, in no particular order:

1. The good people of Hong Kong kept their annual tradition with an estimated 150,000 people attending a candle-lit vigil at the city's Victoria Park.
2. "Tiananmen Mother" Ding Zilin and her husband made it to the spot where their son Jiang Jielian was killed on the night of June 3, 1989, at Muxidi, surrounded by heavy police escort and "protection." The couple stayed for 45 minutes and performed vigil for all known victims at that location that night. Ding Zilin fainted as she was leaving the scene.
3. Wuer Kaixi attempted to turn himself in at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo and was refused by the embassy. He was eventually arrested by Japanese police for trespassing. He had tried a similar and unsuccessful tactic at Hong Kong last year.
4. Chai Ling testified at the US Congress on the "forced abortion" policy by the Chinese government, calling it as "Tiananmen Massacre is happening ever day in China."
5. Wang Dan organized a large-scale online commemorative gathering on Twitter.
   
6. A book claimed to be the diary penned by Li Peng, the Premier during the movement and massacre, is published in Hong Kong.

Book Review: Zhao Ziyang Falls Short in Telling His Story

On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre, the book Prisoner of the State, the Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang was published with great fanfare. There have been many instant reviews in the mainstream media hailing for the importance of the book, especially that it tells the "real story of Tiananmen."

According to the book's publishers and editors, Zhao Ziyang had spent parts of his last years recording his thoughts in secret. The audio tapes were only discovered after his death. He left no words on the purpose and intention of these tapes. Bao Pu, the son of Zhao Ziyang's long-time political assistant Bao Tong, led the efforts in transcript the tapes and make them into this book, published separately in Chinese and English versions.

Bao Pu has since refused to make the tapes themselves available to the public, other than a few excerpts. So there are no independent means to assess the authenticity of the book material. As memoirs of Chinese leaders are usually non-existent, it is also almost impossible to cross-examine the content against other similar books.

Nevertheless, I did not have high expectations when I started reading the book and yet still came away disappointed. I did have a few questions related to the 1989 student movement that I had hoped to find the answers from Zhao Ziyang's own words, for example,

1. Did he actually agree and approve the infamous April 26 People's Daily editorial before its publication while he was away in North Korea?
2. During the critical period in early May when he was personally in charge and conducting dialogues with the public to defuse the tension, why did he not make any such efforts to reach out to the protesting students before the hunger strike?
3. After the hunger strike, did he direct and/or authorize Yan Mingfu's dialogue with student leaders? What was the strategy for that dialogue?
4. Why did he disclose the "state secret" that Deng Xiaoping was still the supreme leader in China during his meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev?

Actually, the 306 pages long book only has its first part, merely 49 pages, dealing with the 1989 student movement. That certainly could not, and did not, do justice to the greatest event which would dominate Zhao Ziyang's historical legacy.

That short passage read in a very defensive, and indeed self-pity, tone. Zhao Ziyang tried to blame a conspiracy, led by then Premier Li Peng and supported by Deng Xiaoping, which undermined his strategy and led to the martial law and the eventual massacre. But it was unclear what his strategy or leadership was. Being the General Secretary at the time, the book showed a leader who was lost, soft, and lack of ideas or willingness to take any meaningful action on his own.

More specifically, on the questions I was looking for answers:

1. Zhao Ziyang did confirm that he had approved the publication of the editorial. He attempted to explain that he could not have done anything else because he was away and did not know all the facts.
2. Zhao Ziyang blamed Li Peng and other leaders not to contact student leaders. There was no words explaining why he did not try to do it himself.
3. The book did not mention Yan Mingfu's dialogue attempts at all. It was as if that important facets of the movement had never happened.
4. The book did dedicate a whole short chapter to the Gorbachev meeting. He tried to downplay its significance. But the rationale presented there sounded contrived and weak. It also contradicted to Bao Tong's own testimony that Bao Tong had intentionally inserted the statements at last minutes.

As far as the Tiananmen is concerned, this is a rather uninformative book. It is not surprising since the "real story" of that magnificent movement did not happen within the walls of the government compound. It happened on the campuses, on the streets, and in Tiananmen Square. That is a story that Zhao Ziyang, or any other government leaders at the time, is unable and unwilling to tell.


Books about Tiananmen

This Day in 1989: May 20, Residents and Students Block Martial Law Troops

The martial law was supposed to take effect at 10am, May 20, 1989. The only sign of military in the city at that time was however a column of helicopters hovering over Tiananmen Square and dropping paper pamphlets from the air. Underneath, students and residents waved and shouted in defiance. They were more excited than angry.

Throughout the night, as martial law troops advanced, or tried to, toward the city from many directions, they encountered unexpected resistances from Beijing residents. Old ladies laid down their bodies. Truck drivers parked their vehicles in front of the military convoys. Residents came out at that night of full moon and surrounded every military column they could spot in the suburbs. Bands of motorcycle gangs, calling themselves the "Flying Tigers," circulated the city outskirts as scouts and information carriers.

By morning, every unit of the martial law troops was hopelessly blockaded on the streets. They were surrounded by students and residents, who emotionally and painstakingly lectured the soldiers.

At Tiananmen Square, students were emboldened by this latest development. The tone of the movement changed immediately. Beijing Students Autonomous Federation, the Hunger Strike Headquarters, along with a newly formed Workers Autonomous Federation, issued a joint statement calling for the impeachment of Premier Li Peng and President Yang Shankun. They also called for a general strike.

Students, who had previously forbidden residents mixing into their ranks for the "purity" of their movement, now openly appealed for support for workers and residents. Small groups of student delegations went to factories to talk to workers directly. One of these delegations was led by Xiong Yan, who had limited success at the biggest industrial complex in town -- the Capital Steels.

Similar statements came in droves from other organizations, established or new. Li Peng, the public face of the martial law, became the public enemy number one.


Days of 1989