On the eve of the 35th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Li Hengqing, a former student movement leader at Tsinghua University, granted an exclusive interview to a reporter from The Epoch Times, recounting the causes of the Tiananmen Square protests and his own experiences of narrowly escaping death. He expressed hope that media outlets with conscience like The Epoch Times continue to speak out about the true historical facts along with righteous intellectuals.
May 28th, Hong Kong police for the first time invoked Article 23 of the Basic Law to arrest six individuals, including former deputy chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements Zou Xiangtong, who are currently detained, accusing them of posting articles related to the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests on social media. The Hong Kong government also claimed that some individuals were using “sensitive dates” to provoke citizens to hate the central and Hong Kong governments.
In mainland China, the Chinese Communist Party authorities have already strengthened strict control over dissidents, who are either put under “tourism” or strict surveillance; there is an increase in police checking phone information on trams and buses; and social media in China does not feature any information related to the Tiananmen Square protests. The CCP attempts to use high-pressure methods to forcibly erase people’s historical memories.
However, for many, the brutal memories of history cannot be erased no matter what. Li Hengqing, a Chinese economic scholar residing in the United States, who escaped death at Tiananmen Square 35 years ago, is one such individual.
Since the implementation of the so-called “reform and opening up” policy by the CCP in 1978, it has brought about a series of institutional problems, including corruption, privilege, and worsening dissatisfaction among the Chinese people, ultimately leading to the eruption of the 1986 student movement, demanding political system reform and chanting slogans such as “We Want Democracy.”
Li Hengqing recalled that the 1986 student movement was the historical factor that led to a series of subsequent events.
After the student movement in 1986, Deng Xiaoping called Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang to his home for a discussion. He claimed that the student protests were a significant event; the CCP “cannot copy the bourgeoisie’s democracy, cannot implement the separation of powers.”
The relatively open-minded General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee, Hu Yaobang, was forced to resign from his position in January 1987 and later criticized as advocating “bourgeois liberalization.”
On April 15, 1989, Hu Yaobang passed away. Subsequently, some individuals held memorial activities and gatherings in Tiananmen Square, followed by demands for democracy, freedom, and opposition to bureaucratic corruption, gradually becoming the core demands of the students.
Li Hengqing stated that on April 22, at the Great Hall of the People, tens of thousands of Beijing students gathered outside the east gate of the Great Hall. Later, three student representatives knelt on the steps outside the east gate and presented a petition to the CCP authorities. The petition focused on re-evaluating Hu Yaobang’s merits and demerits, safeguarding freedoms, and opposing privilege.
On April 26, the front page of the CCP mouthpiece People’s Daily published an editorial calling for clear opposition to turmoil, claiming that only a very small number of individuals with ulterior motives were plotting to overthrow the CCP and the current political system. This statement angered the students, leading to student protests and demonstrations in several major cities that night, with tens of thousands of students marching in Beijing the following day.
From May 16 to 18, millions of Beijing residents and people from all walks of life took to the streets, setting the record for the largest demonstration in Beijing’s history. Some members of democratic parties also sent letters to senior CCP leaders affirming the students’ demands; more than 1,000 intellectuals in Beijing signed the “May 16th Declaration” expressing support for the students.
On May 17, members of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee met at Deng Xiaoping’s home, where Deng proposed the implementation of martial law in Beijing. That evening, when discussing the martial law plan during the Politburo Standing Committee meeting, Zhao Ziyang expressed his inability to implement martial law.
In the early hours of May 19, Zhao Ziyang, accompanied by Wen Jiabao, arrived at Tiananmen Square, urging the students to end the hunger strike as soon as possible, saying, “Students, you are young and have a long way to go. We are old and it doesn’t matter.” This was also Zhao Ziyang’s last public appearance.
On May 20, the State Council of the CCP officially announced the implementation of martial law and mobilized at least 30 divisions from five major military districts, totaling up to 250,000 soldiers sent to Beijing. On May 23, Beijing again held a million-person march, with the procession chanting slogans like “Li Peng Step Down.”
Li Hengqing described how they were at Tiananmen Square at that time, with many ordinary citizens joining in to block the military vehicles entering the city.
On June 1, Prime Minister Li Peng submitted a report to the CCP Politburo, labeling the demonstrators as terrorists and counter-revolutionaries; the CCP Ministry of State Security also claimed that US military forces were involved in the student movement, hoping to overthrow CCP rule.
On June 3, Li Peng and other members of the Politburo Standing Committee met with the CCP military and top Beijing officials, confirming the methods for implementing martial law, classifying the events as a “counter-revolutionary riot,” and deciding to take action that night, mobilizing troops and armed police to enter Tiananmen Square and vigorously enforce martial law tasks.
Li Hengqing said, “On the night of June 3, the military tanks started rushing in, openly killing people on Chang’an Street. Then the subway cars all turned into troop carriers. At that time, we didn’t know how so many soldiers suddenly emerged from the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum. The Beijing underground tunnels were interconnected, and they had already ambushed those troops there.”
“The soldiers on East and West Chang’an Street fired their guns, and the tanks rushed in. Many ordinary people died on Chang’an Street. And how brutal were those tanks? They chased after students, crushing them in the end…” he said, currently residing in San Francisco, is a living witness.”
At that time, Li Hengqing was the overall commander of the student movement at Tsinghua University. On June 3, due to feeling unwell, he returned to Tsinghua Hospital for intravenous fluids. The students at Tiananmen Square asked him to return to the square, so he removed the intravenous tube and went back to the square.
“Tiananmen Square was ablaze everywhere, and the tanks had already come in,” he said. “It was the first time I saw tanks; I thought tanks couldn’t drive fast.” In fact, they were moving very fast. At each intersection, roadblocks were set up, but “it could knock down those obstacles and keep going, it was so fast!””It was truly a massacre feeling at that time.”
Li Hengqing described, “Looking up again, the sky was woven with nets. Later I found out that the assault rifle magazine had 10 rounds, with 9 being live rounds and 1 being a tracer round, creating streaks of light.”
“Suddenly, the troops seemed to be emerging from underground, they were everywhere. But everyone persisted, persisted. At that time, I estimated that there were at least two to three thousand students on the square.”
Li Hengqing said, “Tiananmen Square became more and more dangerous, ‘We were at the monument on Tiananmen Square, our determination at that time was to die on the square.’ After the military started firing, there were many wounded, and the wounded were brought one after another to the square from various places. In the northeast corner of Tiananmen Square, an ad hoc reception station was set up.”
At that time, all hospitals were not allowed to go to the square to help the injured, and not a single ambulance appeared. So many injured and dead were piled up in the northeast corner of the square.
Beijing residents spontaneously used three-wheeled flatbed trucks to transport the wounded, and he even saw a taxi “piling” the wounded into the car, saying, “It was really a pile, with people even on the hood.”
In the area where Li Hengqing was located, there were several nurses and a doctor responsible for confirming: if there was a chance of saving them, they would be taken away, otherwise, they would not waste resources.
“I saw with my own eyes a student carrying his classmate, pleading with the doctor to let him get on the car. The doctor looked and said, ‘No, he’s beyond saving.’ The student cried, kneeling and pleading with the doctor. The doctor said, ‘No, it’s really hopeless.'” “I went over to look, he had a big hole in his chest, he was definitely beyond saving.”
“At that time, nobody was afraid of death, just wanting to die there. I was covered in blood from head to toe, all someone else’s blood. At that time, I had one wish: to die there.” “But afterwards, I calmed down and thought, ‘No, these students have to be taken away, they are the seeds of democracy.'”
Later, Li Hengqing and other student leaders on the square took a vote at the monument in Tiananmen Square on whether to evacuate. The result of the vote was that the majority agreed to evacuate, and they began to withdraw. During the withdrawal, they followed the flags of Tsinghua University.
According to Li Hengqing, at that time, an exit was opened for the people on the square to exit from the southeast corner of Tiananmen Square before dawn.
The flag of Tsinghua was raised, and the students followed. “I was the first one to stand under the flag, if I fell, the others would follow. Each university followed the flag of Tsinghua.” They escorted some students out from the southeast corner.
After the main body of students left, there were still many people on the square, including citizens. So, Li Hengqing returned to the square and used a loudspeaker to call for students to leave; they then formed an ad hoc patrol team and hand in hand, escorted students and citizens off the square.
He said, “At that time, there were tanks behind us, about 20 meters away from us. For the first time, I saw rolling black smoke behind me, following us.”
Behind the tanks were soldiers with loaded rifles. “I still remember now, at that time, that the soldiers started storming, they should have raised the gun barrel by an inch.”
“At the time the tank had already arrived, it completely occupied the southeast corner of the road. It was those citizens who saved me, otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”
Subsequently, Li Hengqing began his life of wandering, evading pursuit.
In the end, he was caught and sent to the Qin Cheng prison in Beijing, where high-ranking officials were detained. A year later, he was released; later, after many hardships, he came to a foreign country…
On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, Li Hengqing expressed his feelings, saying that back then he thought, “When I grow old, I want to tell my descendants: during the 1989 ‘Tiananmen Square protests’, your grandfather’s legs and bones did not weaken, I stood my ground against the CCP. I believe this is a basic human characteristic.” “China is about to change, and the CCP will not be able to hold on for much longer.”
Finally, Li Hengqing told The Epoch Times reporter that the current situation in China is very serious, many people have been brainwashed by the CCP, those who have grown up drinking the “wolf’s milk” still believe in the CCP’s bewitching propaganda. He hopes that The Epoch Times, as a media outlet with conscience, as well as righteous public intellectuals, continue to speak out about the evil dictatorship of the CCP and reveal the true historical facts, “We are fighting against brainwashing, telling the truth, and uncovering the truth.”