Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation

Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation
北京高校学生自治联合会
FounderLiu Gang
Founded23 April 1989; 35 years ago (1989-04-23)
HeadquartersYuanmingyuan, Beijing

The Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation (Chinese: 北京高校学生自治联合会; pinyin: Běijīng gāoxiào xuéshēng zìzhì liánhé huì) was a self-governing student organization, representing multiple Beijing universities, and acting as the student protesters' principal decision-making body during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.[1][2][3] Student protesters founded the Federation in opposition to the official, government-supported student organizations, which they believed were undemocratic.[3][4][5] Although the Federation made several demands of the government during the protests[6][7] and organized multiple demonstrations in the Square,[8][9] its primary focus was to obtain government recognition as a legitimate organization.[5][10] By seeking this recognition, the Federation directly challenged the Chinese Communist Party's authority.[4] After failing to achieve direct dialogue with the government, the Federation lost support from student protesters, and its central leadership role within the Tiananmen Square protests.[9][11]

  1. ^ Craig J. Calhoun, Neither Gods Nor Emperors: Students and the Struggle for Democracy in China (University of California Press, 1994), 46.
  2. ^ Sarah Sanderson King and Donald P. Cushman, Political Communication: Engineering Visions of Order in the Socialist World (SUNY Press, 1992), 120.
  3. ^ a b Corinna-Barbara Francis, "The Progress of Protest in China: The Spring of 1989," Asian Survey 29, no. 9 (September 1, 1989): 904, doi:10.2307/2644834.
  4. ^ a b Calhoun, Neither Gods Nor Emperors, 41.
  5. ^ a b Peter Li, Marjorie H. Li, and Steven Mark, Culture and Politics in China: An Anatomy of Tiananmen Square (Transaction Publishers, 2009), 157.
  6. ^ King and Cushman, Political Communication, 121.
  7. ^ Francis, "The Progress of Protest in China," 911.
  8. ^ Tony Saich, "The Rise and Fall of the Beijing People's Movement," The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, no. 24 (July 1, 1990): 190, doi:10.2307/2158894.
  9. ^ a b Teresa Wright, "State Repression and Student Protest in Contemporary China," The China Quarterly 157 (1999): 155, doi:10.1017/S0305741000040236.
  10. ^ Francis, "The Progress of Protest in China," 907.
  11. ^ Saich, "The Rise and Fall of the Beijing People's Movement," 198.