Women's roles during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests Women's roles during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests Many women participated in the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 for democratic reform in China. Lee Feigon states "women [during the Tiananmen Square Protests] were relegated for the most part to traditional support roles." Chai Ling and Wang Chaohua, however, were female student leaders taking part in leadership activities during the pro-democracy movement. Ranging from student leaders to intellectuals, many women contributed their opinions and leadership skills to the movement. Although women had substantial roles, they had different standpoints regarding the hunger strike movement on May 13. Chai Ling was a leader
Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident on 17 March. Some Falun Gong sources argue that she may have been killed by the government as a way of guaranteeing her silence. The program suggests that the reaction time of state-run television crews and police on Tiananmen Square demonstrates they had advance knowledge of the event. They observed that officers arrived almost immediately on the scene equipped with numerous fire extinguishers. Fire extinguishers are not standard equipment for police on Tiananmen Square; the nearest building that would house them was several minutes away from the scene. The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong further called