Xu Qinxian Xu Qinxian ( ) ( born 1935 ) was the commander of the 38th Group Army of the Chinese People ' s Liberation Army who refused to use force against demonstrators in Beijing during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests . Xu was court - martialed , jailed for five years and expelled from the Chinese Communist Party . Early life . General Xu Qinxian was born in Dawu County , Hubei Province to a poor peasant ' s family . His ancestral line originates from Ye County ( now Laizhou ) , Shandong Province . After the outbreak of the Korean War , he volunteered for the army and was initially rejected because he was underage . He was allowed to enlist after he bit his finger and wrote an appeal in blood . Xu saw combat in the war and became a tank operator in the 38th Army . By 1980 , he was a division commander of the 1st armoured division , and participated in the large - scale military exercises of northern China in 1984 . In 1987 , Xu Qinxian became the commander of the 38th Group Army , based in Baoding , Hebei Province . Defiance in Spring 1989 . In March 1989 , Xu Qinxian was wounded in a grenade accident and sent to the Beijing Military Region Hospital in the capital . While hospitalized he watched the student movement unfold and was moved to tears by media coverage of students on hunger strike . In mid - May , he was recalled to Baoding to plan for the mobilization of the 38th Army . On or about May 20 , 1989 , the 38th Army verbally ordered by the Beijing Military Region ( BMR ) to enforce the martial law order against demonstrators in Beijing . Xu was a protege of Defense Minister Qin Jiwei , who had reservations about issuring the crackdown . Xu said he could not comply with a verbal order to mobilize and demanded to see a written order . When told by the BMR that it " was wartime " and an order in writing will be provided later , Xu responded that there was no war and reiterated his refusal to carry out the order . President Yang Shangkun sent Zhou Yibing , the commander of the BMR , to Baoding to persuade Xu . Xu asked Zhou whether the three principals of the Central Military Commission had approved the martial law order . Zhou replied that while Deng Xiaoping , the chairman , and Yang Shangkun , the vice - chairman , had approved , Zhao Ziyang , the first secretary , had not . Without Zhao ' s approval , Xu refused to act on the order and asked for sick leave . His request was not granted but he still refused to report to duty . Privately , he told friends that he would rather be executed than to be a criminal to history . Yang Shangkun declared that Xu Qianxian ' s insubordination could not be tolerated . He ordered Xu be arrested , imprisoned and expelled from the Communist Party . The 38th Army under a new commander proceeded to play a major role in suppressing demonstrators . Many of Xu Qinxian ' s former colleagues were promoted for their roles . Aftermath . Xu was court - martial led and served five years in prison . At trial , he remained defiant , declaring that " the People ' s Army has never in its history been used to suppress the people , I absolutely refuse to besmirch this historical record ! " After his release from prison , he was not permitted to live in Beijing and resides in Shijiazhuang . When interviewed by the Hong Kong media 22 years after his decision , Xu expressed no regrets . He became a friend of Li Rui , former secretary of Mao Zedong and a leading detractor within the Communist Party . Xu ' s defiance has also been praised by Lt . Gen . Liu Yazhou , an outspoken critic within the PLA of the need for political reform in China .