Xu Qinxian

Xu Qinxian (Chinese: 徐勤先; August 1935 – 8 January 2021) was a Chinese major general of the People's Liberation Army. As commander of the 38th Group Army, he refused the order to use force against demonstrators in Beijing during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. As a result, Xu was court-martialed, jailed for five years and expelled from the Chinese Communist Party. After serving his sentence, he was exiled to Shijiazhuang, Hebei, where he spent the remainder of his life.

Hong Kong media reported in January 2021 that Xu had died on 8 January 2021 after choking on food.

During Chinese New Year 2016, Xu had a prolonged bout of pneumonia and was hospitalized in the People's Liberation Army Bethune International Peace Hospital in Shijiazhuang. Afterwards, Xu lost vision in his right eye, had poor vision in his left eye, became senile, and underwent surgery. He also suffered from cerebral thrombosis, struggled to take care of himself, lost the ability to speak fluently, and lost much of the weight he used be known for. Around 2019, Xu returned to his home in Shijiazhuang and his condition improved, however his health began rapidly deteriorating in early 2020.

In 2011 the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily saw him as a guest at the Beijing home of Li in 2011 and briefly interviewed him. Xu talked about his life after Tiananmen, confirming his expulsion from the party, and his treatment as if he was the deputy commander of a military region. Xu also said he had access to news and was able to travel between Beijing and his home in Shijiazhuang. He expressed no regrets about his actions during the Tiananmen protests. The interview provoked government ire and Xu was confined to Shijiazhuang for the rest of his life, where he was kept under constant guard and given a lower quality home to live in.

For 20 years, Xu's whereabouts were unknown, until a 2009 article by Asia Weekly reported that he was forbidden from living in Beijing and had been forced to live in Shijiazhuang, Hebei. Asia Weekly also reported that a reference to Xu had been included in an anthology of poetry published by his friend Li Rui in 2007, which went unnoticed by the General Administration of Press and Publication.

In March 1989, Xu was wounded in a grenade training accident and sent to the Beijing Military Region (BMR) Hospital in the capital. According to Chinese journalist Yang Jisheng, Xu was actually hospitalized with kidney stones. While hospitalized, Xu watched the student movement unfold and was moved to tears by media coverage of the student protestors' hunger strike in Tiananmen Square.

After returning from Korea, Xu worked as a radio operator and rose through the ranks to command a communications battalion, and serve as a regimental chief of staff. In the 1980s, Xu commanded the 1st Armored Division, and was deputy commander and then commander of the 38th Group Army. The 38th Group Army was a key unit defending Beijing and was based in Baoding, Hebei, about 90 miles south of Beijing. It was the largest, most-mechanized, and best-trained unit of its size in the Chinese military. Xu was a protege of Defense Minister Qin Jiwei, who would also later have reservations about enforcing the crackdown during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

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 spent 8 months at a People's Liberation Army communications school in Fushun, Liaoning. He later saw combat in the war, starting off as a telegraph operator in a tank regiment in the 38th Group Army.

According to Gao Yu, Xu was summoned to the BMR headquarters a day after refusing his marching orders and had his car hijacked. He was then hidden away overnight from searchers sent from the 38th Group Army, whose leadership was replaced before 4 June.

Xu's defiance fanned fears in the Communist Party of a rebellion among the military and heightened the belief that the student protesters were a serious threat that had to be eliminated. The 38th Group Army under new leadership proceeded to play a major role in suppressing the demonstrators. Many of Xu Qinxian's former colleagues were promoted for their roles.

Xu Qinxian was born in August 1935 in Ye County (now Laizhou), Shandong Province. He was sometimes mistakenly thought to be related to General Xu Haidong.