Video shows Gen Xu Qinxian explaining why he refused to deploy troops to crush 1989 student-led demonstrations

Video shows Gen Xu Qinxian explaining why he refused to deploy troops to crush 1989 student-led demonstrations

Rare footage of a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) general who defied orders to lead his troops into Tiananmen Square and crush the 1989 student protesters has been leaked online, offering a highly unusual glimpse into the upper echelons of the military at one of the most fraught moments in modern Chinese history.

General Xu Qinxian’s refusal to take his troops from the PLA’s prestigious 38th Group Army, a unit based on the outskirts of Beijing, into the capital has been the stuff of Tiananmen lore for decades.

The six-hour video recording of Gen Xu’s court martial hearing the next year sheds light on the rare act of defiance. In the video, Xu said he refused because he did not want to become “a sinner in history”.

  • T00l_shedEnglish
    945·
    4 days ago

    Don’t worry, I’ve been told by users that it didn’t happen, and that if it did, it wasn’t what we saw, and it wasn’t that bad, and that, if it was, they deserved it.

    • Credibly_HumanEnglish
      142·
      3 days ago

      It is really crazy that this weird china apologism is so common here.

      Its the type of shit you’d expect to see more on reddit, but instead its on lemmy way more.

    • Tja@programming.devEnglish
      1614·
      4 days ago

      It’s all AI anyway. If you saw tank man before, you are being lied to by western propaganda.

    • UnderpantsWeevilEnglish
      67·
      4 days ago

      I’ve been told by users that it didn’t happen

      Don’t be shy. Name some names.

      • T00l_shedEnglish
        85·
        3 days ago

        You’re more than welcome to go through alllllll my comments to find some interactions. I couldn’t be arsed

      • T00l_shedEnglish
        233·
        4 days ago

        “It did not happen” thanks for demonstrating my point

        • IndustryStandardEnglish
          417·
          4 days ago

          “I was wrong and you provided video evidence but I will persist in being wrong and ignore evidence in front of my eyes”.

          • T00l_shedEnglish
            123·
            4 days ago

            Is what you said when you saw the title of this post?

      • UnderpantsWeevilEnglish
        813·
        3 days ago

        The US media was heavy handed in reporting the Federal response but deathly quiet reporting the mob violence and killing perpetrated by the rioters.

        Talking about Tianeman while fixating on Tank Man is a bit like only referring to J6 by holding up photos of Ashli Babbitt taken the day before. Or reporting on the LA Riots exclusively from the perspective of the Roof Koreans. Or holding up photos of Iranian girls in swimsuits any time someone mentions the '79 revolution. Or quoting Elon Musk on White Genocide In South Africa. Or doing the “Haitians are eating the dogs and cats” line to explain our modern immigration policies.

        It’s the same right wing propaganda liberals seem to recognize in their own backwards, but refuse to accept could have been applied to poison them against another country’s people.