Chai Ling
On May 4, the Federation successfully organized a demonstration of over 100,000 protesters in Tiananmen Square, marking the 70-year anniversary of the 1919 May 4 Movement. Also on May 4, the Federation decided to end the boycott on class attendance it had begun on April 24. This sudden and unexpected end to the boycott, and loss of momentum in student-government negotiations, resulted in a loss of student enthusiasm for the protests. As student leader Chai Ling noted "the movement dwindled to a low point as more and more students returned to classes." In an attempt to reinvigorate the movement, Chai Ling and other students started a hunger strike on the Square. Although the Federation initially opposed the hunger strikers during its May 12 meeting, it eventually decided to support individual strikers, but avoided official endorsement of the Hunger Strike Group. As the protests continued throughout May and into June, the Hunger Strike Group would take control of events in the Square, and would largely displace the authority previously held by the Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation.