Instances of Insubordination in the PLA during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Instances of Insubordination in the PLA during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 saw a massive redeployment of People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops into and around Beijing. After the declaration of martial law, the PLA mobilized at least 22 divisions from 13 Armies, which converged on Beijing . This force far exceeded the local garrison, with troops being sent in from across China. Altogether, roughly 300,000 troops were involved in the campaign to quell the protests. By their end, the PLA had proven that it was largely willing to enforce party decrees with lethal force.
Instances of Insubordination in the PLA during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. began shooting at protesters out of frustration. After firing shots into the air, in response to brick and bottle throwing by the crowd, the troops became enraged and fired into the crowd. According to him: "No one said to shoot, but it was, like, We're going to teach them a lesson, and then those soldiers unleashed their fury, You pulled the trigger and bang, bang, bang, it was like rain, the noise shaking the heavens." The high-rise apartment blocks along Changan Boulevard, leading to Tiananmen Square, were subjected to indiscriminate gunfire from the troops below. Documentary evidence of the Tiananmen