Days of 1989: June 16, Yang Tao Arrested, Yuan Mu Spoke to American TV Audiance

On June 16, 1989, student leader Yang Tao was arrested in the remote Gansu province.

The government spokesman Yuan Mu was interviewed by NBC host Tom Brokaw. Yuan Mu stated that there was no death during the final clearance of Tiananmen Square. But he also explained that there were casualties during the entire event. During the interview, he emphasized that modern technology had enabled people make false video evidences, implicitly attacking western media.

A segment of Yuan Mu's interview can still be seen in this snippet of Taiwan TV news.


Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: May 28, Chai Ling Makes a Videotape

Sunday, May 28, 1989, was a day for global demonstration to support the students in Beijing. There were marches in major cities all over the world by Chinese students and compatriots. But it was relatively quiet in Beijing. Students there had their own demonstrations. It was a far cry from what they had been experiencing in the last couple of months.

At the Headquarters for Defending Tiananmen Square, many people were leaving. Even the commander-in-chief Chai Ling was depressed. She made a decision to leave as well. During the day, she met up with an American student Philip Cunningham and videotaped a "last word" interview. In the evening, she was back at the Square and resigned from her post. Yang Tao was selected to be an acting czar to reorganize the occupation.

Chai Ling's videotape would eventually become a big controversy surrounding her intention in the movement and personal character, especially after it's been used in the documentry The Gate of Heavenly Peace. At present, Chai Ling is suing the producers.


Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: May 26, Students Vote to Continue Occupying Tiananmen Square

Along with the new Headquarters for Defending Tiananmen Square, Li Lu had organized a new student parliament in the Square as a deliberate and decision-making entity. In the night between May 25 and 26, 1989, the parliament had an overnight session debating the merits of continued occupation in the Square. A vote was cast at 5 o'clock in the morning on four options:

1. Defending the Square with a confrontational stance (坚守广场，主动出击): 162, 56%
2. Persisting in the Square while seeking a dialogue (积极对话，坚持广场): 80, 27%
3. Keeping the purity of the movement, no withdraw, no dialogue （保持纯洁，不撤不谈), 38, 13%
4. Keeping the status quo, let chips fall where it may (维持现状，自生自灭), 8, 3%

It was not clear what the real differences between some of the choices, but the voting result clearly demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of the delegates to this parliament favored an aggressive and continued occupation of the Square. Li Lu would later use this result as his mandate to defeat various proposals of withdrawing.

In this afternoon, Yang Tao arrived at the Square from Peking University with his "empty campus" proposal, in which all students leave the city altogether. He appeared to have the ears of Chai Ling and Feng Congde but not Li Lu, who regarded it as just another attempt to get the students to withdraw.

Feng Congde continued to struggle with the chaotic financial situation in the Square. He had learned that the Beijing Students Autonomous Federation had taken a sizable donation fund with them when they were forced out.

At Tiananmen Square, a new red banner was installed on the Monument to People's Heroes, spelling out the new goals for the movement under martial law: "Commerce the National People's Congress, Improve democracy; Impeach Li Peng, End the Military Rule." (召开人大，推进民主；罢免李鹏，结束军管). Wang Dan posted a poster at Peking University with an urgent appeal for students to reinforce their comrades at the Square.


Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: May 25, Yang Tao Proposes "Empty Campus" Plan

It was the sixth day of the martial law. Most of the military that had been blocked and surrounded on their routes in the suburbs for days had now withdrawn to make camp in the far outskirts of the city. The government seemed to have paralyzed and left the capital for the students.

Despite the determination displayed by the new leadership the day earlier, the hottest topic debated in the students' camp was whether it was time to leave the Square and what the exit strategy would be. On May 25, 1989, Yang Tao, a student leader from Peking University who had stayed away from Tiananmen Square to work on logistic support, proposed a new idea to the now sidelined Beijing Students Autonomous Federation. He suggested that all students leave Beijing en mass and leave the city empty for the martial law troops.

At Tiananmen Square, Feng Congde volunteered to look after the financial situation and found wide-spread mismanagement and graft in the floods of donated money. Even worse, he realized that the students were running a huge deficit in supplying food for the "citizens of the People's Republic of Tiananmen Square." The deficit was covered by IOUs signed by student leaders and honored by the local business owners. But the situation was not sustainable.

As a measure of transparency, Feng Congde decided to post daily financial report at the Square.


Days of 1989