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

People of 1989: Xu Jiatun (许家屯)

Xu Jiatun was already 73 in 1989. He had been the head of the Xinhua Press Agency in Hong Kong, the de facto ambassador from mainland, for six years. He was an old and high-ranked Communist and had served as the Party head of the Jiangsu province. During his tenure in Hong Kong, he maintained a relatively open and liberal stance, establishing close personal relations with many of the local rich capitalists.

Throughout the 1989 movement, Xu Jiatun had a direct communication channel with Zhao Ziyang, feeding the latter with outside information collected from Hong Kong. According to Xu Jiatun's memoir, Zhao Ziyang called him right after his trip to North Korea, summoning him to Beijing to discuss the situation. Later, Zhao Ziyang delegated Xu Jiatun, through Yang Shangkun, to mediate and communicate with Deng Xiaoping. After Zhao Ziyang's ouster, Xu Jiatun passed a sympathetic message to Zhao Ziyang.

In the latter stage of the movement, with a tacit permission of Xu Jiatun, the left-leaning press in Hong Kong had adopted a stand supporting the movement. Some, including staff of his agency, had even participated in local demonstrations. After the massacre, Xu Jiatun signed off for Wenhui, a local newspaper under his control, to publish a protesting editorial. He was removed from his post shortly after and retired.

In late April, 1990, Xu Jiatun left China abruptly, fearing for further repercussions. He became the highest ranked official in exile. He lived in Los Angeles and published memoirs. Although he frequently expressed the desire to return to China in his later years, he never obtained a permission to do so.

Xu Jiatun died on June 29, 2016, at his home in Los Angles. He was 100.


People of 1989

This Day in 1989: June 24, 1989, Government Turmoil Ends with New Leadership

On June 24, 1989, the Chinese Communist Party completed its top-level leadership reshuffle at the conclusion of its 13th Congress, 4th plenary session.

Top officials sacked for sympathizing with the 1989 student movement include Zhao Ziyang, Hu Qili, Rui Xingwen, and Yan Mingfu.

Quite unexpected, however, the new General Secretary is Jiang Zemin, former Shanghai party head. Others who received promotion include Song Ping, Li Ruihuan, and Ding Guanggeng.

Those who stayed put in their positions include Deng Xiaoping, Qiao Shi, Wan Li, and Yao Yilin.


On the same day, Beijing Daily published a lengthy article labeling Liu Xiaobo as the "black hand" behind the movement.


Days of 1989

People of 1989: Wan Li (万里)

Born in 1916, Wan Li joined the Communist revolution in 1930s. He rose to the level in central leadership during the ensuring civil war and the Communist taking power. During the Cultural Revolution of 1960s, however, Wan Li's political fortune went into a roller-coaster ride, along with that of Deng Xiaoping. He and was sacked twice. In 1977, he came back yet again and became the Party Chief in the inland Anhui province.

It was there when Wan Li gained his most fame by supporting a grassroots reform movement which implemented de-facto privatization of lands in the countryside. The official media soon linked him with the similar reforms by Zhao Ziyang in Sichuan province with a catchy but manufactured phrase "For Want of Rice, Seek Wan Li; For Want of Food, seek Ziyang. (要吃米，找万里；要吃粮，找紫阳)" The propaganda effort not only established the position of reformist pioneers for the two, but also created an impression that they were personally close.

But Wan Li was not necessarily as open minded as perceived. In 1986, when Professor Fang Lizhi was conducting his speaking tour in college campuses advocating democracy, then Vice Premier Wan Li was alarmed enough to follow Fang Lizhi around the country and collect the latter's "improper words." Wan Li eventually challenged Fang Lizhi in a conference for a debate. Fang Lizhi called his bluff and two engaged in an amusing dialog in front of hundreds of party cadres. Wan Li insisted that democracy in China must be provided by the Communist Party. Fang Lizhi countered with his claim that democracy could not be bestowed by any authority.

When the 1989 student protests broke out, Wan Li was already the Chairman of the National People's Congress. He voiced little, if any, of his own opinions. On May 10, he chaired a Congress committee meeting which decided to hold a formal Standing Committee meeting on June 20, whose agenda included discussing the ongoing demonstrations. Two days after that, he left the country for a pre-arranged 21-day state visit to North America. The students launched hunger strike the day after his departure.

After the martial law, NPC Standing Committee member Hu Jiwei hoped to use NPC, which theoretically holds the supreme power in China, as an arbitrator for the split government leadership. They collected signatures among Standing committee members calling for Wan Li's immediate return and emergency meetings to discuss the martial law. When the Capital Joint Conference debated on whether to withdraw from Tiananmen Square, the possibility of this early emergency meeting or the scheduled June 20 meeting became a key factor in timing.

Wan Li did return early on May 23 but he did not reach Beijing, to the dismay of many students who went to Beijing airport attempting to greet him. Instead, his plane landed in Shanghai and he stayed there. After four long days, Wan Li finally broke his silence and published a written statement supporting the martial law. He never appeared in public until after the massacre, when he accompanied Deng Xiaoping to review martial law troop officials on June 9.

After 1989, Wan Li continued to hold the post of NPC Chairman until he retired in 1993. He kept an extremely low profile and essentially disappeared from the public scene.

Wan Li died on July 15, 2015. He was 99.


People of 1989

People of 1989: Zhang Wei (张炜)

Born in 1955, Zhang Wei is one of the luckier ones among his generation. When college entrance exam was re-established in 1977 after the turmoil of Cultural Revolution, he earned his entrance to Peking University as a student of economics. Two years later, he became the President of the official student union, typically a step stone to a political career in China.

In 1989, when an unexpected election campaign emerged in Peking University, Zhang Wei couldn't help to jump in, despite cautions from school officials. He joined the dissident-minded candidates such as Hu Ping and Wang Juntao but maintained his own brand of "moderate reformer" stand. He garnered third most votes, just behind Hu Ping and Wang Juntao but won deserved respects from his peers.

Zhang Wei (second from left) and his classmates at Peking University in 1982.

After graduating in 1982, Zhang Wei turned down an offer to be a youth official at the school and chose a low level position in Tianjin. In two years, he rose to be the head of a new development zone in the city and became a distinguished reformer. His work earned attentions of top-level government officials.

Zhang Wei (left) and Zhao Ziyang (right) in the 1980s.

As his star was rising, the 1989 student movement erupted. Zhang Wei was 34 then, already one of the top officials in the Tianjin city government. He did not participate in any of the protests, but after the declaration of the martial law, he wrote and submitted a short resignation letter:

I protest the decision of deploying army against unarmed people engaging in peaceful protests. I cannot agree with Li Peng's speech. Now my official duty and my loyalty to people are in conflict. I have to choose the latter. Therefore, I resign from my post.

After the Tiananmen Massacre, He wrote more protesting letters to the central government.

Zhang Wei lingered on a few years after the resignation and suffered a divorce. In 1993, he got accepted by Harvard University and left China for graduate study, while seeking treatment for his young son with leukemia. He earned a masters degree from Harvard in 1995 and then a Ph. D. from Oxford University in 2000.

Since 2002, Zhang Wei has been the president of the Center of Chinese Economics that he founded at Cambridge University. He is still not allowed to return to China.

People 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: Hunger Strike Continues Amid Sino-Soviet Summit

Hunger Strike Headquarters holds a press conference.

Chai Ling speaks at the press conference.

Chai Ling faints.

Pu Zhiqiang is making a speech pleading for donation.

The scene at Tiananmen Square. (Sitting with a notebook is Philip Cunningham.)

The scene at Tiananmen Square. (Photo by Philip Cunningham)

The scene at Tiananmen Square.

The scene at Tiananmen Square.

The scene at Tiananmen Square.

The scene at Tiananmen Square. The sign says hunger strike has reached 51 hours.

The scene at Tiananmen Square.

The scene at Tiananmen Square.

A new hunger strike is launched at Xinhuamen.

Some students start water strike.

The scene at Tiananmen Square.

Yan Mingfu comes to speak to students directly.

Yan Mingfu offers himself as a hostage for students to end hunger strike.

Yan Mingfu at Tiananmen Square.

The Sino-Soviet Summit.

Deng Xiaoping meets Gorbachev.

Zhao Ziyang meets Gorbachev.

Pictures 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: Zhao Ziyang

Zhao Ziyang came to national prominence when he was appointed as the Premier of China in 1980. Along with the then General Secretary Hu Yaobang, he was considered young and upcoming in the ranks of communist officials. For almost a decade, he skillfully guided the reform effort advocated by the behind-the-scene supreme leader Deng Xiaoping and earned a well-deserved reputation as a pragmatic leader.

His fortune first changed in January 1987, when Hu Yaobang was sacked in disgrace after a wave of student demonstrations. Zhao Ziyang's own role in Hu Yaobang's downfall is still unclear to this day. However, he became the one who succeeded Hu Yaobang as the General Secretary and the apparent heir to Deng Xiaoping.

When the student movement broke out in 1989 following Hu Yaobang's death, Zhao Ziyang was not a favorite figure, partly due to his beneficiary status in the Hu Yaobang episode. In fact, there were rampant rumors about corruption within his family, particularly his son, making him one of the targets of the movement.

Zhao Ziyang's very first public move during that movement was a puzzling one. Following Hu Yaobang's funeral and just as student movement was gaining momentum, he left the country for a lengthy state visit to North Korea. While abroad, he approved the publication of the infamous April 26 People's Daily editorial, a move that perhaps sealed his fate a few weeks later.

After returning to Beijing in early May, Zhao Ziyang pushed for his non-confrontational approach toward resolving the crisis and briefly won the upper hand within the government. Most significantly, he abolished the censorship in official media and allowed the movement being freely reported. He also advocated dialogues with the masses. But for reasons that are still unclear today, he did not promptly initiate direct dialogue with the students until very late.

On May 16, 1989, during his meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Zhao Ziyang made a surprise revelation that Deng Xiaoping was still the supreme leader in China, turning the movement toward targeting Deng Xiaoping. It was yet another mysterious move of his that has not yet been properly explained. It did not work out for him. The government moved on to impose martial law and he resigned in protest.

Zhao Ziyang later appeared in Tiananmen Square himself and made a passionate, impromptu speech to students, during which he famously uttered "we are already old, it does not matter to us any more." He was going to be seen in public ever since.

After years of house arrest, Zhao Ziyang passed away on January 17, 2005, at the age of 85. Four years later, his secret memo was discovered and published posthumously. Yet the best-selling book fell short in telling his story.

Zhao Ziyang is remembered mainly for his refusal to endorse the martial law and the eventual massacre. He is also frequently criticized for being weak, especially in comparison to the Russian leader Boris Yeltsin who later courageously joined the masses in a somewhat similar crisis situation.



People of 1989

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 19, Zhao Ziyang Makes Farewell, Li Peng Announces Martial Law

Before dawn of May 19, 1989, in the darkness, General Secretary Zhao Ziyang showed up on the edge of Tiananmen Square unexpectedly. The exhausted and downbeat national leader was accompanied by Premier Li Peng, Chief-of-Staff Wen Jiabao, and other aids and guards. The entourage caused quite a stir. Zhao Ziyang boarded one of the buses housing hunger strikers, shook hands, and gave an unprepared speech to a few cameras. He rumbled through begging students to stop the hunger strike but offered nothing other than the famous farewell-ish line, "I am old, I really don't care any more..."

The student leaders near the center of the Square did not get a chance to meet these leaders, who disappeared as quickly and mysteriously as they showed up. They poured through some notes taken by students at the scene and could only imagine what Zhao Ziyang had personally gone through. They knew bad things were on the way.

Indeed, throughout the day, rumors about an impending martial law were coming from all directions. (In the aftermath, Zhao Ziyang, along with his aid Bao Tong, was accused of leaking state secret including the martial law. There were evidences that the information was quite widely available, even outside of Beijing.)

In their typical dramatic fashion, student leaders finally came to a decision to call off the hunger strike. Despite opposition of their messes, the fast was broken. Chai Ling was happy that their decision was announced hours ahead of the martial law. She regarded as a great tactical victory. As the hunger strikers were carefully removed from Tiananmen Square for treatment and rest, thousands other students came to participate a continued "sit-in" protest.

The martial law was formally announced late that evening in the Great Hall of People, where Li Peng addressed thousands of government cadres. The martial law troops would be entering the city that night while the martial law itself would take effect the next morning.

The students remaining at Tiananmen Square braced for a brutal and violent night. They expected to be forced evicted. They hoped that they could last until after daybreak.


Days of 1989

People of 1989: Yan Mingfu (阎明复)

A posthumous memoir by the late General Secretary Zhao Ziyang is making the news currently. But if we had a real chance to have a peek of the inside work within the Chinese government during the chaotic weeks of 1989, the most intriguing person would not be Zhao Ziyang, Li Peng, or even Deng Xiaoping himself.

The most interesting figure would be Yan Mingfu, a career bureaucrat who was heading the United Front Department within the Party leadership at the time. Being the son of a prominent leader, Yan Mingfu had grown up a privileged life to become one of the second-generation leaders. He was once the personal Russian interpreter for Mao Zedong himself. Yet during the Cultural Revolution, he was also jailed for being accused as a Soviet spy.

At the United Front Department, part of his job was to appease and control the intellectual community which was always a potential trouble maker. With an open mind, Yan Mingfu managed to maintain close and cordial relations with many prominent intellectuals.

In the Spring of 1989, when students marched the street, it was Yan Mingfu who took the first initiative from the government side to contact the emerging students directly. In order to achieve that, he had to solicit help from people like Wang Juntao, a figure considered fringe by the government. While not being able to cross the party line himself, Yan Mingfu displayed a sincere and straightforward attitude that was absent from other officials. In the earlier stages of hunger strike, Yan Mingfu hosted a dialogue with student leaders which came closest in meeting students' demands. (Whether Yan Mingfu took these actions on his own initiative or as part of a strategy from Zhao Ziyang is still a mystery.)

After the collapse of that dialogue, Yan Mingfu made an even bolder move. He appeared at Tiananmen Square himself, the highest official ever present there, and spoke directly to students. While appealing for students to end their hunger strike, he offered himself as a hostage to ensure the students' demand could be met. Unfortunately, he did not follow through and left the Square amid a chaotic scene of Wuer Kaixi's fainting. (There were indications that he was forced into a vehicle by his aids/guards.)

Yan Mingfu's personal influence dwindled after the failed dialogue and the escalation of the movement itself. But he stayed close to a few student leaders and gained their complete trust and admiration. Wuer Kaixi and Wang Dan had come to see him as a needed father figure in their tumulus times. Behind the scenes, Yan Mingfu played a role in persuading some student leaders in ending the hunger strike and provided guidance for them in the latter stages of the movement.

When student leaders finally met with the Premier Li Peng, Yan Mingfu was also in the presence as a government representative. But he failed to side with students at the time and acted out his role according to his position.

After the crackdown, Yan Mingfu was sacked and stripped all his leadership positions along with Zhao Ziyang and others who was sympathetic to students. He disappeared from the public view for a couple of years. In the 1990s, he made a mild comeback of sort as a lower-ranked government official focusing on charity work.

Close to eighty years old, Yan Mingfu appeared to have retired. However, he still occasionally writes memoirs on his father and the early years of the Chinese Communist Party. There has been no word from him about the 1989 experience.


People of 1989

This Day in 1989: May 17, Millions March to Support Student, Targeting Deng Xiaoping

When the students launched their hunger strike at Tiananmen Square five days ago, they had dreamed that their suffering could wake up the consciousness in the general populace and make their appeal for democracy directly to the people. On this day of May 17, 1989, their efforts appeared to be paying off.

From the early morning and throughout the entire day, people marched, paraded, and come to the Square every which way they could. There were millions and millions of residents, workers, journalists, famous TV personalities, office dwellers, intellectuals, and even some monks. Indeed, the entire city of Beijing came out, and they were all in support of the students whose lives and health were under increasing danger.

The Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang released a written statement appealing for students to stop the hunger strike. He promised not to punish anyone involved. But he did not address the students' demand either.

Most other organizations within the government apparatus were releasing open statements of their own. Their tones were increasingly siding with the students with appeals to the government to resolve the crisis immediately and humanly. In the meanwhile, Yan Jiaqi and Bao Zunxin continued their assault on Deng Xiaoping personally. Posters denouncing Deng Xiaoping started to show up in Tiananmen Square.

On this fifth day of hunger strike, there were now more than 2,000 hunger strikers in their camp, many had joined in the last couple of days. Many earlier hunger strikers had fainted or collapsed many times and were taken to hospitals in ambulances. Some of them quietly ended their hunger strike while at hospital, but many returned after receiving IV fluid treatment and nutrition. Accusations of cheating within hunger strikers were also rampant.

At the newly formed Hunger Strike Headquarters, Chai Ling, Li Lu, and other leaders were trying to find an exit strategy of their own. They had proposed that any hunger striker who was taken to hospitals should not be allowed to return. As soon as the last striker fainted and taken away, they would reach the end of the hunger strike. The strategy, however, was a non-starter as more and more new people were joining in the hunger strike every day. More emotional students were refusing water and talking about self-immolation to raise the stake. The movement was tittering on the edge of losing control.


Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: May 16, Hunger Strike Continues amid Sino-Soviet Summit

Back on May 16, 1966, a directive from the Party Central launched the decade-long turmoil of Cultural Revolution in China. But on this day in 1989, people paid scant notice to this anniversary. Their attention was transfixed at Tiananmen Square, where the hunger strike was entering its fourth day.

In the morning, Chai Ling and Li Lu called a meeting of hunger strike representatives and formally "elected" the Hunger Strike Headquarters, fending off at least temporarily the challenge to their leadership the night before.

In the Great Hall of People adjacent to the Square, the Sino-Soviet summit was underway. In a surprise disclosure, General Secretary Zhao Ziyang told the visiting Mikhail Gorbachev that Deng Xiaoping, although with no official title for doing so, still had the final say of any critical decisions in China. The news would not have surprised many, but some of Zhao Ziyang's close advisers took it as a hint of a breakoff between Zhao Ziyang and Deng Xiaoping.

Yan Jiaqi was quick to react. In that same afternoon, as millions of Beijing residents poured into the Square for the hunger strikers, he proudly read a statement denouncing Deng Xiaoping as "an old and fatuous dictator" and called on the masses to end the "politics by the elders." It was the first time in the movement that Deng Xiaoping was singled out as a target.

Tiananmen Square, meanwhile, was quickly turning into an emotional stir-pot itself. Many hunger striking students were fainting. Ambulance sirens were becoming a constant. Student marshals established a "life line", in which human chains stood guard to ensure a passage for ambulance vehicles amid the crowd.

Some more radical students were no longer satisfied with the hunger strike itself. Several groups laid claims that they would refuse water as well. Cheating was also discovered within the hunger strike camp. A group of students from University of Political Science and Law broke off angrily and set up another camp in front of Xinhuamen, where they vowed to have a purer version of hunger strike of their own.

Yan Mingfu was still desperate to resolve this crisis. In this afternoon, he came to the Square and offered himself a hostage to the students. If the students ended their hunger strike, he pledged to stay with them until a satisfactory dialogue became reality. Students were stunned to his offer. But in the chaos of Wuer Kaixi fainting at the scene, Yan Mingfu left the Square.


Days of 1989

Zhao Ziyang Speaks, Posthumously.

With much media fanfare, Simon & Schuster just released a memoir of the late Zhao Ziyang, who was acutally the General Secretary at the time of 1989 student movement. The book, Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang, was purportedly made from a series of audio recording from Zhao Ziyang himself, and translated and edited by Bao Pu, the son of Zhao Ziyang's aid Bao Tong, and Bao Pu's wife Renee Chiang.

The book is currently climbing into the best-seller list at Amazon.

This Day in 1989: May 6, Dialogue Delegation Submit Petition

On Saturday, May 6, 1989, most colleges in Beijing had resumed their regular classes and the emerging movement seemed to be moving toward an end. Except for at Peking University. In a campus-wide vote at that school, 64.2% of students chose to continue their class boycott. So the strike continued there. Beijing Normal University followed suite as a solidarity measure. Those were only two schools that continued the class boycott.

The newly formed Dialogue Delegation was slowly finding their footing. Its co-leaders Xiang Xiaoji and Shen Tong delivered a dialogue petition of their own to the government. Compared to the ultimatum authored by Beijing Students Autonomous Federation a few days earlier, this one was significantly more moderate.

Growing pain continued in the student organizations. For his "unilateral" decision of announcing the resume of classes, Zhou Yongjun was formally expelled from Beijing Students Autonomous Federation. Feng Congde also resigned from both the Beijing Students Autonomous Federation and the Preparatory Committee at Peking University. He was tired and thought he was not quite up to the job. Wuer Kaixi resumed the leadership role.

Things were also changing on the government side. Official press started to report the ongoing student movement in positive tunes. Zhao Ziyang made an internal speech to encourage reporters and editors to exercise their rights in fair and truthful reporting.


Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: May 5, Students Return to Classes, People's Daily Reports Demonstration

Friday, May 5, 1989, was another day of rest and regroup after a big demonstration. Most students were relieved and satisfied with Zhao Ziyang's conciliatory speech and Zhou Yongjun's announcement of resuming classes. The days of demonstrations appeared to be over, although their dialogue petition had yet to be met by the government.

At Peking University, however, debates on whether to resume classes raged on throughout the day. Its Preparatory Committee announced that the issue would be put on a campus-wide vote after public discussion around The Triangle.

On the official press, newspapers were plastered with reports of Zhao Ziyang's speech and its welcoming reactions among the masses. People's Daily even carried a picture of students' demonstration the day before, which was an unusual signal.


Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: May 4, Large-Scale Protest around the Country

May 4, 1989, the seventieth anniversary of the May Fourth Movement, was a much anticipated date since the beginning of that year. Yet on the heels of the much more recent demonstration of April 27, the anniversary had lost quite a bit of the excitement. Beijing Students Autonomous Federation launched another large-scale demonstration anyhow, in response to the government's refusal of an equal dialogue.

The demonstration on this day was smaller in scale but a much happier occasion than that of the April 27. Students were no longer afraid of a military crackdown. They treated it largely as a victory lap and received, once again, enthusiastic support from Beijing residents. There were only occasional police human barricades, which the students stormed through without trouble.

At Tiananmen Square, students staged an impromptu commemoration of the anniversary by making speeches. In the happy mode, Zhou Yongjun announced that the weeks-long class strike was now over and urged students to resume classes. It appeared that this current student movement had reached its conclusion.

A couple hundreds young reporters joined the demonstration on that day. They rallied to demand press freedom.

In the afternoon, Zhao Ziyang made a keynote speech to the Asian Development Bank conference in Great Hall of People. Without mentioning the April 26 People's Daily editorial directly, he seemed to have reversed its verdict by claiming that there was no, and would not be, turmoil in the country.

Outside of Beijing, large-scale demonstrations erupt in more than a dozen big cities. In Shanghai, students marched and staged a sit-in protest at the city government office.


Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: May 3, Government Rejects Students Petition, Students React

In the morning of May 3, 1989, State Council Spokesman Yuan Mu publicly rejected the dialogue ultimatum by the Beijing Students Autonomous Federation at a press conference. He said the government would neither be threatened nor recognize the "illegal" student organizations.

As a response, Beijing Students Autonomous Federation announced their plan for a demonstration next day, seventieth anniversary of the May Fourth Movement. The class strike on college campuses that started after Hu Yaobang's funeral on April 22 is showing signs of weakening. Some small colleges had already resumed classes. At other schools, student marshals were sometimes needed to picket against students who wanted to go to classes. But in the rush of planning for the demonstration, Beijing Students Autonomous Federation officials debated but failed to make a formal resolution on this issue.

In the meantime, a new Dialogue Delegation was formally established that evening to seek and prepare for a formal dialogue with the government. Delegates came from various colleges including Shen Tong and Xiong Yan from Peking University. Most other delegates, however, were graduate students who appeared to be older and mature. They elected Xiang Xiaoji and Shen Tong as the co-organizers. Shen Tong advocated for this organization to keep a healthy distance from the Beijing Students Autonomous Federation and the ongoing movement so that they would be more acceptable to the government.

Also in that afternoon, General Secretary Zhao Ziyang made his first public speech since the movement at the occasion of the official commemoration meeting of the May Fourth Movement. He stroke a conciliatory tone toward the ongoing situation.

In the evening, dozens of young reporters from the official media decided to hold their own rally the next day to demand press freedom.


Days of 1989