23 May:
Students announce that Ye Fei, Zhang Aiping, Xiao Ke, Yang Dezhi, Song Shilun, Chen Zaitao, Li Jukui and others have written to martial law headquarters in the name of veteran servicemen, saying: "The People's Army belongs to the people. It must never oppose the people, let alone suppress them. They must never shout at the people, or create any instances of bloodshed. To prevent the situation worsening, troops must not enter the city." (Zhonggno Xinwen She 22.5.89).
25,000 people gather in Macao at the border crossing to China to protest at the way in which the Chinese authorities are handling the Peking students' demands. Tens of thousands gather in centre of Macao, chanting slogans against martial law and the Chinese Premier Li Peng (Lisbon Radio 22.5.89).
Messages of support for Li Peng's 19 May speech come in from Jiangxi, Yunnan, Guangdon, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Tianjin, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Hainan, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Jilin Anhui, Gansu, Tibet and Heilongjiang (Xinhua 22.5.89)
Standing Committees of party committees of the Nanjing, Shenyang, Chengdu and Canton Military Regions and the Commission for National Defence, Science, Technology and Industry pledge to "resolutely support the important policy decision by the Party Central Committee and the State Council to safeguard national stability and unity with concrete action" (Xinhua 22.5.89)
Huge demonstration of about one million people in Tiananmen Square calling for democracy and press freedom. (Radio Peking 24.5.89)
Hong Kong Ming Bao reports all vice-chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee, except Wang Hanbin, agreed at meeting on 22 May that the student movement is "correct" and that they "resolutely oppose" the imposition of military control in Peking. They are reported to have sent a telegram to NPC Chairman Wan Li asking him to return from USA immediately for an emergency meeting of the NPC Standing Committee.
60 soldiers injured in Fengtai district of Peking while trying to enforce Marial Law.
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