Editor’s note: what follows is another in a series of remembrances by a participant in the events leading up to the June 4, 1989 Beijing massacre. Here, the author talks about events in middle May, 1989, when the authorities are desperate to get the students of Tiananmen Square to end their hunger strike and the students continue to adamantly refuse.
Part 1 is at https://www.yibao.net/2024/04/29/the-things-i-saw-in-may-and-june-1989-1/
Part 2 is at https://www.yibao.net/2024/05/03/the-things-i-saw-in-may-and-june-1989-2/
Part 3 is at https://www.yibao.net/2024/05/07/the-things-i-saw-in-april-june-1989-3/
By: Zhou Duo
“On May 16, I, Liu Shiding, and Cao Siyuan (Master Cao was my senior colleague and mentor) made an appointment to go to the United Front Work Department. The reason was that the night before, I had just returned home from the Beijing Hotel when I received a call from Liu Shiding. He said that Master Cao had just talked with him on the phone and wanted to write a proposal. The general idea was that in view of the current emergency situation, the Politburo collectively discussed the delay and suggested that the central government designate a member of the Politburo Standing Committee to be responsible for handling the student unrest. After hearing this, I thought my friend had gone crazy. This was simply ordinary people directly interfering in high politics. Who do you think you are, worthy of intervening in Politburo matters? But I didn’t want to disappoint everyone, so I downplayed things: “I don’t think this matter is meaningful. I’m afraid such a step won’t have any effect. What do you think?” Liu Shiding responded, “You might as well give it a try.” If you do that, at least you won’t be sentenced to several years in prison for this unrest. He said it was best to go early. I said no, I hadn’t discussed it with the driver in advance and it wouldn’t be good for him to make a wasted trip. Besides, it seemed necessary to show up first at my company to prevent some people from making irresponsible remarks….. [Continue Reading]
Source: https://www.yibao.net/2024/05/09/the-things-i-saw-in-may-and-june-1989-4/