Earlier on Tuesday, on 23 July, a number of reports announced the passing away of Chinese premier Li Peng at the age of 90. It was reported that Li Peng famously known for his order of martial law during the 1989 mass protest at Tiananmen Square died of an unidentified illness.
If anything rings a bell about the name of Li Peng then it has to be the crucial role played by him in the bloody crackdown of the pro-democracy student movement in 1989.
Often referred to as the ‘mass murderer’ and ‘butcher of Beijing’, Li Peng was partially involved if not entirely in the unprecedented repressive measures adopted in Tibet in 1994. Li was among the Chinese officials who were responsible for the events that followed the major crackdown of Tibet in 1994. Li was also in the list of eight first complaints filed against former Chinese politicians regarding the crimes committed in Tibet. The complaint was filed before the Spanish National Court by the Tibetan Support Committee, the Foundation “House of Tibet”, and Thubten Wangchen, a Tibetan in exile. The list also includes notoriety names of Chinese officials like Hu Jintao; Jiang Zemin; Deng Delyun; Chen Kuyian; Ren Rong; Yin Fatang; and Qiao Shi.
Mr. Thubten Samphel, former Director of Tibet Policy Institute on the demise of Li Peng said: “Li Peng was the most consequential figure in goading Deng Xiaoping to crack down on the protesting students in 1989”.
As far as Li Peng’s association with Tibet is concerned, researcher Tenzin Tsetan of TPI pointed out that Li had no direct connection with Tibet as did by Hu Jintao but he was partially responsible for the repressive policies in Tibet.
Tenzin Tsetan said, “Li was partially responsible for the repressive policies in Tibet since he was the Premier of the People’s Republic of China when the protests took place in Tibet between 1987 and 1989”.
Tenzin also said that protests gave rise to the imposition of Martial law in Tibet followed by a series of many repressive measures introduced in Tibet until his retirement in 2002.
“He was part of the highest echelons of the Chinese Communist Party and a participant in the third and fourth Tibet Work Forums held in 1994 and 2001 respectively”. said researcher Tenzin Tsetan while reiterating that Li must be held accountable for the brutal crackdown on the pro-democracy student movement in June 1989.
Till today the 1989 mass protests at Tiananmen Square remains to be one of the most brutal crackdowns the world has ever seen and it still remains to be a taboo subject in China. For this very reason, history will forever remember Li Peng as the butcher of the June 4 Massacre.
Li Peng was born in 1928 in China’s southwestern Sichuan province and his father was also a former revolutionary communist leader.
Li started his career at the national power plant in China’s northwestern Jilin province in 1954 and was first promoted to the premier’s position in 1987. Li retired from all political ranks in late 2002 and early 2003.
*Above report is contributed by Mr Thubten Samphel, former Director of TPI and Tenzin Tsetan, a research fellow at Tibet Policy Institute.
TPI is a research center of the Central Tibetan Administration, a think tank to identify potential prospects and problems for Tibet and the Tibetan people.