Chen Ziming Chen Ziming (8 January 1952 – 21 October 2014) and Wang Juntao were arrested in late 1989 for their involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Chinese authorities alleged they were the "black hands" behind the movement. Both C ...
(8 January 1952 – 21 October 2014) and
Wang Juntao
Wang Juntao (; born 1958) is a Chinese dissident and democracy activist accused by the Communist government for being one of the “black hands” behind the Tiananmen Student Movement. He was listed first on the government's “six important cr ...
were arrested in late 1989 for their involvement in the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
. Chinese authorities alleged they were the "black hands" behind the movement. Both Chen and Wang rejected the allegations made against them. They were put on trial in 1990 and sentenced to 13 years in prison.
History of protest
Before their arrest for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Chen and Wang were arrested for their involvement in the
1976 protests
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
marking the death of
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...
.
They were released however, after
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...
took power and reversed the verdict on the incident.
Chen and Wang were also active in the
Democracy Wall movement in 1978–1979.
In 1985, they helped found the
Beijing Social and Economic Sciences Research Institute.
Arrest and indictment
In November or October 1989, Chen and Wang were arrested in Southern
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
while trying to make their way to
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
.
They were allegedly following an escape route set up by an unidentified Hong Kong activist who was also arrested.
It is believed that Wang spent the months after
June 4th
Events Pre-1600
* 1411 – King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries.
* 1561 – The steeple of St Paul's, the medieval cathed ...
hiding in the city of
Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...
while Chen went underground in
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
.
On November 24, 1990, Wang was formally charged with intent to overthrow the Communist government and dissemination of counterrevolutionary propaganda.
Chen was similarly charged on November 26, 1990. Authorities claimed that the two were the alleged masterminds or "black hands" behind the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
Trial
On December 10, 1990, in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, Canada, activists campaigned in support of Wang and Chen. One of the organizers, Wu Chunmeng, expressed concern that, with international attention focused on the
Persian Gulf crisis, the fate of Chinese political prisoners would be overlooked.
According to the verdict in the Case of
Chen Ziming Chen Ziming (8 January 1952 – 21 October 2014) and Wang Juntao were arrested in late 1989 for their involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Chinese authorities alleged they were the "black hands" behind the movement. Both C ...
, the Beijing Intermediate People's Court concluded the following through "facts... attested to by witnesses’ testimony, by written evidence and by tape-recordings:"
*On April 23, 1989, Chen Ziming convened a meeting at the Beijing Social and Economic Sciences Research Institute where he,
Wang Juntao
Wang Juntao (; born 1958) is a Chinese dissident and democracy activist accused by the Communist government for being one of the “black hands” behind the Tiananmen Student Movement. He was listed first on the government's “six important cr ...
and
Chen Xiaoping "molded the counterrevolutionary opinion to intensify the turmoil in an organized way." At the meeting, Chen Xiaoping stated: "China's problem today is not a matter of reform, but a matter of changing the government."
*On May 17 and 18, Chen Ziming, Wang Juntao and Chen Xiaoping "schemed" to form an "illegal organization to ‘unite all the various circles.’" At the meeting, Chen Ziming outlined his "tactic for conspiring to subvert the government" when he stated: "the words of the elite will influence the students, and words of the students will influence people throughout the country." Also read aloud at the meeting was the "May 17 Declaration" which stated that the government had "lost its capacity for human feeling", and was "under the power of an autocrat." It further characterized the 1989 Student protests as "a great patriotic and democratic movement which will finally bury autocracy and end the system of rule by emperor."
*On May 19, Chen Ziming convened a meeting where a "counterrevolutionary leaflet" was written which stated that "military rule is about to be enforced" and "incited the masses" to "begin a nationwide work strike, class boycott, and market boycott."
*On the evening of May 23, Chen Ziming and Wang Juntao summoned the leaders of the "Command Headquarters of Tiananmen Square", the "
Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation
The Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation ( zh, s=北京高校学生自治联合会, p=Běijīng gāoxiào xuéshēng zìzhì liánhé huì) was a self-governing student organization, representing multiple Beijing universities, and acting as the ...
", the "
Beijing Workers' Autonomous Federation
The Beijing Workers' Autonomous Federation (BWAF), or Beijing Workers’ Autonomous Union ( zh, s=北京工人自治联合会, p=Běijīng gōngrén zìzhì liánhéhuì; popularly referred to in Chinese as gōngzìlián, ) was the primary Chinese ...
", the "
Beijing Citizens Autonomous Federation
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
", the "
Citizens Dare-to-Die Squad
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
", and other organizations together and founded the "Joint Liaison Group of All Circles in the Capital for the Patriotic Upholding of the Constitution."
*In mid-May, Chen Ziming sent others to print several hundred copies of a "counterrevolutionary leaflet" which called China's socialist system "politically, judicially, and journalistically dark" and "vilified" the Chinese Communist Party.
*At the end of May and beginning of June, Chen Ziming and Wang Juntao "secretly conspired to set up places where they could go into hiding."
The court ruled that "these acts constitute the crime of plotting to subvert the government and the crime of counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement and must be punished according to law."
Wang's Defence claimed
Yan Mingfu
Yan Mingfu (; born November 1931) is a retired Chinese politician. His first prominent role in government began in 1985, when he was made leader of the United Front Work Department for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He held the position unti ...
, head of the
United Front Work Department
The United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (UFWD; ) is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which is officially tasked with "united front work". For this endeavo ...
of the
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...
, sent
Zheng Yefu Zheng may refer to:
*Zheng (surname), Chinese surname (鄭, 郑, ''Zhèng'')
*Zheng County, former name of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, China
* Guzheng (), a Chinese zither with bridges
*Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC), emperor of the Qin Dynasty ...
to invite Wang and others to "get involved immediately" in the movement to "serve as a bridge between the students and the government."
Thus, the Defence claimed Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming involved themselves in the movement to "fulfill the task assigned to them by the party."
At his trial, Chen Ziming rejected the charges against him as "unfair and incorrect."
Sentencing
On February 12, 1991, both Chen Ziming and Wang Juntao were sentenced to 13 years in prison. The
Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...
stated that the two "committed very serious crimes but have so far shown no willingness to repent."
By comparison,
Liu Gang
Liu Gang (born 30 January 1961) is a Chinese scientist and revolutionary who founded the Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation. He was a prominent student leader at the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Liu holds a M.A. in physics from Peki ...
, convicted of subversion, and Chen Xiaoping, convicted on the same charges as Wang and Chen Ziming, received more lenient sentences. Liu received six years because, according to the Xinhua News Agency, "he acknowledged his crimes and showed willingness to repent."
Chen Xiaoping was released "for voluntarily giving himself up to police and showing willingness to repent", according to the news agency.
Others have offered different reasons for the discrepancy in sentencing. Merle Goldman, a
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
professor of Chinese history, argued that Wang and Chen "represent a new revolutionary class in China, and that is why the regime is so worried about them."
A Western diplomat argues that the Chinese government "needed somebody to blame for millions of people marching on the streets, and in public it's come down to blaming these two guys." Andrew Higgins, a reporter covering the trial, suggested the importance of the trial was not the sentence but the verdict, which served "to show that the People's Liberation Army crushed not a popular revolt but a planned conspiracy."
Beijing Higher People's Court later rejected appeals of the three sentences.
Wang's letter of criticism
After the trial, in a letter smuggled out of prison, Wang criticized both his trial and the response of fellow protesters. About his trial he stated:
As a matter of general principle I find it absolutely impermissible and insupportable that the charge of "viciously attacking"
he party
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
should once again be used in our republic, as a means of denying and repudiating the lawful rights of citizens. So when the public prosecutor accused me, on the grounds merely that I had opposed the leadership, of committing the crime of counterrevolution, I became very angry. I could not just limit my defense to saying, "I do not oppose the leadership", and felt obliged to defend instead "the lawful right to oppose the leadership."
Of his fellow protesters he stated:
"It grieves me to see that, when confronted with the consequences, so many of the leaders and initiators of this movement dared not take responsibility for it and sought to defame it.... In this way
hey
Hey or Hey! may refer to:
Music
* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
* ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
can suffer less pain themselves, but what of the dead, lacking any way to defend themselves
ndcannot rest in peace?"
Release and re-imprisonment
On April 23, 1994, the Chinese Government released Wang Juntao and allowed him to travel to New York City on medical parole. The release came five weeks before the US decided whether to renew China's
most favoured nation trading status.
On May 14, 1994, Chen Ziming was released on medical parole. In June 1995, he was placed under house arrest and then later returned to prison. Chen was again released on medical parole in November 1996, two weeks prior to a visit by US Secretary of State
Warren Christopher
Warren Minor Christopher (October 27, 1925March 18, 2011) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician. During Bill Clinton's first term as president, he served as the 63rd United States Secretary of State.
Born in Scranton, North Dakota, ...
. He remained under strict house arrest until 2002 when his sentence ended.
Renovation and Construction
''Renovation and Construction'' whose
domain name
A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more. As ...
wa
bjsjs.net was a website founded by Chen Ziming and
He Jiadong on February 1, 2004. Renovation and Construction was the website of Beijing Institute of Social and Economic Sciences, and its legal representative was He Jiadong. In August 2005, Renovation and Construction was censored in less than two hours after it published the article ''A Strong Nation Cannot Eat Its Own Children'' in the headline position.
Death
Chen died on 21 October 2014 at the age of 62, from
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
.
References
Further reading
Black, George;
Robin Munro
Robin Munro (1 June 1952 – 19 May 2021) was a British legal scholar, author, and human rights advocate. He received his PhD from the Department of Law, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London.
Career
From 1989 to 1998, he was ...
(1993). ''Black Hands of Beijing: Lives of Defiance in China's Democracy Movement''. New York: John Wiley. .
External links
Trial of Chen Ziming and Liu Gang
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Ziming, Arrest And Trial Of
Trials in China
Chinese dissidents
Chinese democracy activists
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
1990 in China