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Today in 1989: March to Tiananmen

At 1pm, April 17, 1989, six or seven hundred students and teachers in University of Political Science and Law headed out of the campus toward Tiananmen Square. It was the first demonstration of 1989.  At 11pm, three thousand students in Peking University grabbed a giant banner, dedicated to Hu Yaobang as "China's Soul,"  marched into Tiananmen via Xinhuamen.  Around 300 university students around at 3.30am on 18 April continued to stage a sit-in in front of the People’s Congress, to submit the Seven-Point Demands ( roughly translate into English ):

1. Reevaluate Hu Yaobang and his achievements, Affirm as correct Hu Yaobang's views on democracy freedom and tolerance;2. Renounce the Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization campaign and the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign;3. Freedom of Press and Freedom of speech, Permit citizens to publish independent newspapers;4. Publicize the income of the Party-State leaders and their family members;5. Rescind the Beijing municipal government's "Ten Provisional Articles Regulating Public Marches and Demonstrations";6. Increase budget for education and raise intellectuals' salary;7. Report the student movement objectively.
 

Xiao Jie (肖杰, aka 肖峰杰),  student at People's University in China, one of student representatives, handed in the Seven-Point Demands in the Great Hall of People. Xiao organized a society to invesigate social and political phenomena and debate politics.

Xiao had a train ticket to Chengdu, Sichuan dated June 5, 1989.  At about 2:00 p.m. on 5 June, he was walking on the south side of Nanchizi. When he was crossing the road, he passed over the red enforcement line and when he failed to heed the "stop" shout of the martial law troops, he was shot dead by a bullet in the back which came out through the chest. At about 4:00 p.m., the Public Security Bureau, having found his student ID on his body, informed the university to collect his corpse. http://www.tiananmenmother.org/

Tweets in Chinese, @shaojiang

25年前的今天(4月17日):中国政法大学6-7百名学生和教师下午一时抬着花圈游行到天安门广场,沿途唱《国际歌》和呼喊口号。口号主要是悼念胡耀邦!自由万岁!民主万岁!法治万岁!人民万岁! #八九六四 #8964 #八九六四二五 http://twitpic.com/e1bko4

#八九六四 #八九六四二五 4月17日晚9时,北大三角地敲碗和脸盆声和“游行去”喊声此起彼伏,在一个小时内聚集上百学生,这时三角地旁28楼楼上空降一块10米长4米宽的横幅挽联:“中国魂--部分北大校友暨师生敬挽“。几位学生托… http://twishort.com/wrifc

#六四死难者 人民大学学生 #肖杰 笔名 #肖峰杰 参加4月17-18日的游行和静坐,作为学生代表进入人民大会堂内,要求人大常委会正式接收和回覆请愿七条。 #八九六四 #八九六四二五 http://twitpic.com/e1blfu

#八九六四 #八九六四二五 #六四死难者 人民大学学生 #肖杰 笔名 #肖峰杰 参加4月17-18日的游行和静坐,作为学生代表进入人民大会堂内,要求人大常委会正式接收和回覆请愿七条。肖杰在人大学习期间组织社团,参与社会调查和… http://twishort.com/4rifc

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