In the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Deng Xiaoping deployed the 38th Army to suppress the students. At that time, Major General Xu Qinxian, the commander of the 38th Army, refused to sign the order to deploy troops and was later secretly sentenced by the authorities. Wu Renhua, who witnessed the June 4th movement and is a researcher, yesterday (16th) publicly released a photo of Xu Qinxian being tried in a military court for the first time.
The photo from the trial shows Xu Qinxian seated in court, looking forward, wearing a grey coat. In front of him on the table were several pages of paper and a teacup.
Wu Renhua provided background information on the historical image: During the 1989 Tiananmen Democracy Movement, Major General Xu Qinxian of the 38th Army was hospitalized at the Beijing Military Region General Hospital and witnessed the democracy movement, understanding its demands and the will of the people. On May 17, 1989, a military meeting was held in the Beijing Military Region, announcing the order signed by Central Military Commission Chairman Deng Xiaoping and Vice Chairman Yang Shangkun to deploy troops into Beijing for martial law enforcement. Xu Qinxian immediately expressed his refusal to lead troops into Beijing for this task.
The 38th Army is the main force of the CCP army, known as the “Imperial Guard” and the “Long Live Army”. Therefore, Xu Qinxian’s refusal to lead troops into Beijing to suppress the movement shocked Deng Xiaoping and Yang Shangkun. They promptly removed Xu Qinxian from his position as commander, instructed the General Political Department to arrest him, and handed him over to a military court for trial, sentencing him to five years in prison.
Xu Qinxian served his full sentence at Qincheng Prison and was placed in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province upon release. He passed away on January 8, 2021, at the age of 86.
Beijing senior media person Gao Yu commented: “After his release, he was demoted to deputy military level, continued to serve in the military, and was not expelled from the military, indicating Deng Xiaoping’s uneasy conscience. However, General Xu was surveilled until his death.”
Some netizens also commented:
“A person with a clear conscience, even if imprisoned and tortured by evildoers, still remains open-minded, physically well, and able to live to the age of 86. Compare this to other high-ranking CCP officials who have been imprisoned – not only did they become defeated while in prison, some couldn’t even make it to 80 years old!”
“In such circumstances, the difficulty of the decision made by General Xu is something us ordinary citizens will never comprehend in our lifetimes. He demonstrated true nobility.”
“A soldier with a conscience!”