This Day in 1989: The Democracy Salon is Revived in Peking University

On March 22, 1989, about a hundred students at Peking University attended a session of the Democracy Salon on campus. Wang Dan led the session and a graduate student gave a speech on the "New Authoritarianism," a trendy topic of the day.

The Democracy Salon was originally founded by Liu Gang almost a year earlier. In 1988, it hosted several prominent intellectuals, including American Ambassador Winston Lord, to provide interactive discussions with students. The Salon did not survive for long when the school banished it after an unrelated incident resulting to the death of a student. After that, Wang Dan had been hosting small, secretive sessions in his dorm building.

This is the first time the Salon is once again held outdoors in the open.


This Day in 1989

This Day in 1989: March 14, 43 Intellectuals Sign Open Letter to People's Congress

On March 14, 1989, 43 intellectuals, led by Dai Qing, co-signed an open letter to the People's Congress, calling for amnesty and the release of Wei Jingsheng. This is the third and last such open letter in support of the original call by Professor Fang Lizhi.


Days 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

This Day in 1989: March 5, Protest and Riot Erupts in Tibet

On March 5, 1989, large scale of protests broke out in the city of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Hundreds of monks, nuns, and youth marched on the street with the forbidden Tibetan flags. Looting and arson also occurred amid the protests.

Tibet had not been quiet in the late 1980s and saw several occurrences of riot and other incidents between police and people. In the early 1989, the 10th Panchen Lama Choekyi Gyaltsen was finally allowed to visit his home state Tibet after being confined in Beijing for decades. But he passed away suddenly soon after arriving Tibet. His death led to suspicions of conspiracy and heightened the tension.


This Day in 1989

This Day in 1989: February 25, President Bush Visits China

On February 25, 1989, American President George H. W. Bush, who had been in office for barely a month, arrived in Beijing for a working visit of China.

President Bush at Tiananmen Square, February, 1989

In the late 1970s, Bush had served as the official envoy to China, establishing the liaison office that eventually became the official embassy. He and his wife enjoyed riding bicycles on Beijing streets and acquired substantial knowledge of Chinese society. He also boosted personal relationship with Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping.

After becoming the President, Bush took the opportunity of the funeral of Japanese Emperor Hirohito to launch his first major diplomatic trip by visiting Japan, China, and Korea, before visiting any traditional western allies. (To soften possible controversy, he paid a same-day symbolic visit to neighboring Canada before the Asian trip.)

More than twenty years later, President Obama attempted his own version of "pivot to Asia."


Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: February 20, 42 Scientists and Educators Issues an Open Letter

On February 20, 1989, 42 well-known scientists and educators co-signed an open letter to the nation's top leadership calling for democracy. This is the third such letter following those of Fang Lizhi and 33 writers.

This letter is relatively lengthy and detailed. As with the other letters, it called for the release of political prisoners but stopped short of calling for an amnesty. It also did not mention Wei Jingsheng's name.

The full text and list of signatures can be read here.


Days of 1989

This Day in 1989: Feburary 2, Fang Lizhi Publishes China's Despair and China's Hope

On February 2, 1989, Fang Lizhi published an essay titled China's Despair and China's Hope, translated from Chinese by Perry Link, on the New York Book Review. In it, he boldly claimed that "the disappointments of the past forty years [of China] must be attributed to the social system itself."

The original Chinese version was published in Hong Kong press. It was also later propagated in Peking University by Wang Dan and Shen Tong through posters.


Days of 1989