According to Hong Kong media reports, Major General Xu Qinxian, former commander of the Communist Party’s 38th Army Group, died on January 8. He was expelled from the Party and sentenced by a military court after refusing to carry out martial law orders to mobilize troops to suppress the June 4 student movement in 1989, and was placed under house arrest in Shijiazhuang for a long time during his lifetime. A number of democrats who experienced the June 4 student movement spoke highly of Major General Xu Qinxian and expressed their sorrowful condolences.
Xu Qinxian, a former commander of the 38th Army, reportedly passed away in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, on the morning of January 8 at the age of 86. On May 17, 1989, Xu Qinxian received orders from his superiors to lead the elite 38th Army Group into Beijing to enforce martial law and clear the area in order to suppress student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. Xu Qinxian refused to carry out the crackdown and said, “I would rather kill my head than be a sinner in history!”
After the June Fourth Movement, Xu was dismissed from his post and expelled from the Communist Party of China for disobeying military orders, and was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison by a military court. After his release from Qincheng Prison, Xu Qinxian was placed under house arrest in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, and was not allowed to go near Baoding, the home of the 38th Army Group. It is reported that Mr. Xu Qinxian’s former health condition required him to be bedridden for long periods of time, and his life was strictly monitored by the authorities.
Wu Renhua, a former teacher at China University of Political Science and Law and now one of the leading authorities on the 1989 pro-democracy movement, said in an interview with the station that Major General Xu Qinxian’s refusal to carry out the suppression orders during the June 4 student movement has been rewritten by the Chinese Communist narrative, but still reaped the respect and recognition of the civilian population: “There were more than 200,000 soldiers from 19 armies who participated in the June 4 crackdown, including 14 army Group armies. The 38th Army Group, of which Xu Qinxian was the commander, was the most important one, because the 38th Army was considered the ‘imperial army’ of the Chinese Communist Party, and was the strongest among the army groups. So Xu Qinxian’s resolute refusal to carry out the order to suppress had a very far-reaching impact, and he was respected as a participant.”
Wu Renhua said that Xu Qinxian’s resistance to orders caused a huge shock among the Communist authorities and senior army generals, and he was blocked by the Communist Party as a result. Although Xu Qinxian’s name and current status have rarely appeared in the press in the 32 years since the June 4 incident, his defiance of military orders had a profound impact on society and the military, inspired students fighting for democracy and the citizens of Beijing, and was an important symbolic figure: “That year, on May 17, 1989, Xu Qinxian resisted carrying out the suppression order at a meeting of the Beijing military district and was then arrested The shock of this incident was very great, not only for the generals of the martial law forces. After the incident of Xu Qinxian’s resistance to the order, the 38th Army carried out a top-to-bottom reorganization, and many of the commanders at all levels had the same view as Xu Qinxian. Many of the commanders at all levels had the same view as Xu Qinxian. ‘I would rather kill my head than be a sinner in history! ‘ These words emboldened Deng Xiaoping, then chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Yang Shangkun, executive vice chairman of the Central Military Commission.”
Wu Renhua believes that the CCP’s evaluation of Xu Qinxian will not change with his passing: “Only after China democratizes and General Xu Qinxian refuses to repress back then and pays a great price for it, will such deeds be publicly seen in the media and the Internet and become known to more people.”
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