Wake up（351）

 

351

 

Liu Xiaosheng said: In 1989, a million people marched continuously, which escalated the situation. Shanghai fashion stores put up banners in solidarity with the student movement, expressing dissatisfaction with inflation in China in the late 1980s. The hunger strike quickly aroused support and sympathy for the students from all over China. So far, the protest movement that had waned at the end of April regained its popularity.

From May 16 to May 18, millions of residents from all walks of life living in Beijing jointly launched a demonstration. This demonstration broke the record for the largest number of people in Beijing since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Some media reported the number of people It reached 3 million, while the incomplete statistics of the General Office of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China stated that about 1.2 million people from all walks of life participated in the parade on May 17. The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has an incomplete statistics on the organizations participating in the parade: There are more than 60 colleges and universities in Beijing, 46 central state agencies and Beijing agencies, 18 scientific research units, more than 60 technical secondary schools, middle schools, and primary schools in Beijing, 14 press and publishing units, 22 universities in other places, Beijing factories, There are 78 companies, 9 hospitals, 18 democratic parties, mass organizations, and religions, 2 rural areas, 6 art groups, 3 sports circles, 7 restaurants, and financial and trade organizations; At the same time, many grassroots organizations of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese Communist Youth League, and government-funded trade unions also encourage their members to openly participate in the parade.

In addition, some members of the China Democratic Party sent letters to Li Peng to express their opinions, and the Red Cross Society of China also issued a special notice and arranged for a large number of people to go to Tiananmen Square to provide medical services for the hunger strikers.

More than 1,000 intellectuals in Beijing jointly issued the "May 16 Statement", expressing solidarity with the students and criticizing the government's characterization of the student movement as unrest. Writer Ba Jin, poet Ai Qing, scholar Ji Xianlin and others participated in the signing.

Protestors in the capital's news circles began to unfurl the banners of the news agency (Taiwan), People's Daily's banners of "clearly oppose the 4.26 editorial" and "Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 16: No news today", satirizing the news censorship system.

Chairman of the Central Committee of the four democratic parties, Fei Xiaotong (NLD), Sun Qimeng (Democratic Construction), Lei Jieqiong (Democracy Progress), and Zhou Peiyuan (June 3rd) sent a letter of public appeal to Zhao Ziyang, affirming the student's demands and stating "It is recommended that the main leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council meet with the students as soon as possible and have a dialogue." Zhu Xuefan, chairman of the Kuomintang Central Committee, and twelve members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress also issued urgent appeals, which were published by the People's Daily.

Members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, first-level professors Hou Jianqun and Zhao Minshun walked in the front of the demonstration. Their banners read: "Strongly demand the government to immediately agree to the students' three demands" and "Save the country more than people."

According to Xinhua News Agency, the 77-year-old famous scholar Ji Xianlin went to the square to visit the students in person. With the support of the students, he stepped into the hunger strike students step by step, hugged the disciple who was lying on his back on the ground, and burst into tears.

The banner signed by the famous writer "Old Bing Xin" reads "Students love the country, I love students!"

Mathematicians Chen Jingrun and Wang Yuan jointly shouted, "The burden on the students is too heavy, let us bear some!"

Singer Li Guyi, dancer Chen Ailian and others came to the command center of the students under the monument. More than 30 members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference came here to appeal to Chairman Li Xiannian to urge the government to talk as soon as possible.

In Tiananmen Square, even the staff of the Museum of the Chinese Revolution raised a symbolic V-sign flag on the roof of the museum building to show their attitude. Experts and staff from the Palace Museum also formed a team and walked out of the Palace Museum holding banners to express their gratitude to the students on hunger strike. support.

During the parade, there were rare religious figures who came and went and did not participate in social movements. Buddhist monks held up slogans such as "King Kong is angry and fearless", "Promoting the Dharma freely and broadening all living beings". Protestant Christians, clergy and seminary staff also Holding up the cross during the parade, Muslims of various ethnic minorities in Islam held up scriptures written in Arabic letters to support the students and express their demands for respecting Muslim customs.

Medical staff from dozens of hospitals in Beijing participated in the parade wearing white coats, and volunteered to provide assistance to students who were unwell during the hunger strike. Some doctors were moved to tears during the process of persuading the students.

Workers from various industries and organizations including the Capital Iron and Steel Plant, Beijing Dongfeng TV Factory, Beijing Jeep Automobile Co., Ltd., and the Ministry of Railways, as well as large and medium-sized enterprises participated in the parade, and some workers rode in heavy vehicles.

Farmers from surrounding counties even took agricultural vehicles to form a convoy to the city center to participate in the parade, causing traffic disruption for a time.

Some police officers from Beijing volunteered to go to the square to distribute drinks to the students, and a large parade of police officers marched along the way to make a V sign to the masses, winning warm applause from the masses.

When the parade team from the head office of the People's Bank of China passed the east gate of the Great Hall of the People, they kept shouting: "No loans to officials!" The judges of the People's Court also came to the scene to express their support; more than 700 students from the China Police University spontaneously came to the square in the early morning of the 18th to help the students maintain order and ensure the unimpeded flow of the ambulance lane from the southeast entrance of the square to the front gate.

Elementary and middle school students also participated in the parade, and some elementary school students wearing red scarves shouted slogans such as "My brother and I are of one mind".

On May 18, 1989, the People's Daily reported on the parade and hunger strike.

With the breaking of media reporting restrictions, radio and television newspapers began to publish solidarity from all walks of life at this moment. The period from May 17 to 19 was also evaluated as "the three days with the most freedom for Chinese journalists."

For the first time, China Central Television broadcast the truthful report on the situation in Tiananmen Square in the TV news, and some journalists and employees of CCTV also formed a large parade procession to Chang'an Street, and pulled up huge banners to call names. Ai Zhisheng, Minister of Radio and Television and Director of CCTV, resigned; and the People's Daily published a news on the front page on May 18 with the headline "More than a million people from all walks of life in the capital marched in solidarity with college students who petitioned on hunger strike", becoming the first in the history of the newspaper. The "most politically open" page reported in great detail the appeals of people from all walks of life in Beijing during the parade and their sympathy for the students on hunger strike, and even directly quoted some of the anti-government slogans that appeared in the parade , and listed the names of a number of factories and hospitals that participated in the support, and more than a thousand employees of the People's Daily also participated in the parade, many of whom were well-known senior editors and reporters in the news industry; workers The daily newspapers continuously published "10,000 Workers of the Beijing Electron Tube Factory Appealed" and other reports on the working class' stance and participation in the pro-democracy movement, as well as the positive responses of the cadres of the trade unions to the workers' appeals.

After Gorbachev left China, many foreign journalists decided to stay in China and report on the protests in the capital, Beijing, which brought the student movement into the international spotlight and prompted some Western governments to appeal to the Chinese government Exercise restraint.

In addition to Beijing, students from all over China poured into the capital Beijing one after another to participate in the student movement; and protests of various scales broke out in more than 400 cities across China, including the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, Hubei Province of the Communist Party of China The Party Committee and the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the Communist Party of China were even affected by the student demonstrations.

But the lack of clear positioning by China's central leadership for the demonstrations launched by Beijing left local authorities wondering how to deal with the local student movement. And because the demonstrations merged many social issues with a wide range and different concerns, it made it impossible for the Chinese government to clearly analyze which issues could be negotiated, or even what demands the demonstrations made. At the same time, because the hunger strike itself has "sacrifice characteristics", this makes it very difficult for the Chinese government, which is gradually losing its authority and legitimacy.

Under the pressure of various factors, the Chinese government began to discuss martial law as a feasible means to deal with the demonstrations.

On May 18, Li Peng met with student representatives for the first time in the Great Hall of the People, and hoped to appease the hunger strike that had attracted public attention. During the meeting, the student leaders once again asked the Chinese government to revoke the "April 26 Editorial" and affirm the student movement as a "patriotic act." However, Li Peng said that the government's main concern is the patients sent to the hospital for treatment because of the hunger strike. Although the discussion produced only a few tangible results, it also earned student leaders a spot on a major national television program.

In the early morning of May 19, Zhao Ziyang went to Tiananmen Square accompanied by Wen Jiabao, director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, while Li Peng, who had heard the news, accompanied him and left immediately after arriving at the square.

At 4:50 a.m., Zhao Ziyang directly called on the students to end the hunger strike through a loudspeaker, and told the students that they should live healthy and see the day when China realizes the four modernizations. This was his last public appearance.

On May 23, another million-person parade was held in Beijing, and the parade team chanted slogans to let Li Peng step down.

Liu Xiaosheng said: It is shocking that a case of defacement of Mao Zedong's statue in Tiananmen Square happened at this time.

At 2:00 pm on May 23, 1989, three youths from Liuyang City, Hunan Province, Lu Decheng, Yu Dongyue, and Yu Zhijian, damaged the huge portrait of Mao Zedong hanging in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The three initially traveled to Beijing on May 19 in solidarity with the students who protested the June 4th Tiananmen Square incident who advocated anti-corruption and demanded political reform. However, they advocated the complete overthrow of the current government and the establishment of a democratic government.

Although Yu Zhijian and Yu Dongyue mentioned the proposal and declaration to the student leaders, they did not receive a reply. Afterwards, Lu Decheng, Yu Dongyue, and Yu Zhijian felt that it was impossible to have further dialogue with the students, so on May 22, the three began to plan the destruction of Mao Zedong's portrait.

They first bought 20 eggs nearby and filled them with paint, and then arrived near the portrait to prepare for the operation.

The three first hung the slogans "The 5,000-year dictatorship can come to an end here" and "The cult of personality can now end" on the Tiananmen Gate Tower, and soon threw eggshells full of paint on the portrait of Mao Zedong.

After that, Lu Decheng, Yu Dongyue and Yu Zhijian were sentenced to 16 years, 20 years and life imprisonment respectively by the people's court.

This incident of defacement of the Mao Zedong statue in Tiananmen Square actually changed the nature of the 1989 student movement and provided an excuse for the June 4 martial law clearance.