1989 in China

Events in the year 1989 in the People's Republic of China.

Incumbents

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party - Zhao Ziyang until June 24, Jiang Zemin
President – Yang Shangkun
Premier – Li Peng
Vice President – Wang Zhen
Vice Premier – Yao Yilin
Congress Chairman - Wan Li
Conference Chairman - Li Xiannian

Governors

Events

May

May 13 — Mikhail Gorbachev visits China, the first Soviet leader to do so since the 1960s.
May 19 — Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: Zhao Ziyang meets the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
May 20 — Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The Chinese government declares martial law in Beijing.
May 30 — Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 10 m high Goddess of Democracy statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.

June

June 4 — Tiananmen Square massacre takes place in Beijing on the army's approach to the square, and the final stand-off in the square is covered live on television.
*Hardliners: Li Peng, Jiang Zemin, Chen Yun, Yang Shangkun, Li Xiannian, Bo Yibo, Yao Yilin, Chi Haotian, Liu Huaqing, Li Ximing, Chen Xitong, Deng Xiaoping, Hu Jintao.
*Moderates: Zhao Ziyang, Wan Li, Tian Jiyun, Wu Xueqian, Xi Zhongxun, Wen Jiabao.
*Intellectuals: Liu Xiaobo, Dai Qing.
**Student leaders: Wang Dan, Wu'erkaixi, Chai Ling, Shen Tong, Liu Gang, Feng Congde, Li Lu, Wang Youcai.
June 24 — Jiang Zemin becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

Births

January 18 — Li Huzhao, Paralympic athlete
January 21 — Zhang Shuai, professional hockey player
February 20 — Zhang Yangyang, mountain hopper
March 18 — Lü Zhiwu, swimmer
July 12 — Wang Xinnan, rower
December 21 — Fang Yuting, archer

Deaths

January 11 — Hai Deng, Buddhist monk, martial artist and 32nd Abbot of Shaolin Monastery
January 28 — Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama
February 22 — Zhu Liangcai, general in the People's Liberation Army
March 3 — Dong Qiwu, general in the People's Liberation Army
March 20 — Huang Wei, Nationalist military general
March 26 — Hai Zi, poet
March 28 — Fang Chih, high-ranking Nationalist official
March 29 — Xiao Jingguang, military leader
April 15 — Hu Yaobang, 7th General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
April 23 — Hu Die, Chinese actress
April 24 — Li Jingquan, 1st Secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
May 11 — Xiao Wangdong, lieutenant general in the People's Liberation Army
June 9 — Huang Yan, 2nd Governor of Anhui
June 14 — Wei Guoqing, government official, military officer and political commissar
July 8 — Hui Yuyu, 2nd Governor of Jiangsu
July 28 — Fu Zhong, general in the People's Liberation Army
July 31 — Zhou Yang, literary theorist, translator and Marxist thinker
August 17 — Lin Tie, 1st Secretary of the Hebei Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
August 27 — Burhan Shahidi, Chinese Tatar politician
September 20 — Chen Boda, Chinese Communist political theorist
October 11 — Zeng Xianzhi, revolutionary and politician
November 12 — Mao Yisheng, structural engineer and social activist
November 29 — Yam Kim-fai, Cantonese opera actress
December 5 — Li Keran, a renowned contemporary Chinese painter
December 10 — Huang Zhen, politician
December 24 — Song Peizhang, 4th Governor of Anhui