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.
1989 Tiananmen Square protests were also outraged by "Beijing Daily's 1" June article "Tiananmen, I Cry for You", written by a fellow student who had become disillusioned with the movement, as he thought it was chaotic and disorganized. In response to the articles, thousands of students lined the streets of Beijing to protest against leaving the Square. Three intellectuals, Liu Xiaobo, Zhou Duo, Gao Xin and a Taiwanese singer Hou Dejian declared a second hunger strike because they wanted to revive the pro-democracy movement. After weeks of occupying the Square, the students were tired, and internal rifts opened between moderate and hardliner student groups.