A former People's Liberation Army general arrested after defying a martial law order to crack down on Tiananmen Square protesters in 1989 says he has no regrets.
In May 1989, Major General Xu Qinxian, who was commander of the 38th Army - an elite and well-equipped battle group - refused a verbal order from General Li Laizhu, the deputy head of the Beijing military region, for his army to move into the capital, according to the revised edition of Political Struggles in China's Reform Era by veteran mainland journalist Yang Jisheng .
Xu refused to act unless he saw a written order, according to the book, which was published in December.
'I am not participating, this has nothing to do with me,' Xu is quoted as saying. 'I would rather get killed than go down in history as a villain.'
His defiance shocked party elders Deng Xiaoping and Yang Shangkun. Xu was swiftly taken from the hospital where he was being treated for kidney stones and was later jailed for five years and stripped of his party membership.
'[Xu said] he had no regrets - that was his choice,' said Yang Jisheng, quoting Xu from his two meetings with him in 2008 and 2009.
'The situation was very dangerous at the time, and he was prepared to make a sacrifice, regardless of the consequences.'